BP Oman and Sharakah have renewed their contract to help develop and upgrade the capabilities of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Oman.

The ‘BP SME Development Programme’ project will be managed by Sharakah, a closed joint stock company which specifically encourages and supports the development of entrepreneurs and SMEs in the sultanate, and will be implemented by Inspired Solutions, an SME consultancy firm, added the Oman Daily Observer report.

The agreement was signed between Yousuf al Ojaili, president of BP Oman, and Abdullah al Jufaili, general manager, Sharakah.

The programme will focus on developing the skillsets of 30 SME business owners over a period of 2-3 months through intensive classroom and field training. Twenty of these businesses will be awarded a seed capital grant from BP to be used for the expansion of their respective businesses, said the report.

This programme is part of BP’s Social Investment Programme in Oman.

The BP SME Development Programme aims to contribute to Oman’s socio-economic growth, boost the number of jobs creation, uplift the performance of existing small businesses, build the entrepreneurial capacity of Omanis, and help business owners to identify and fill the gaps in specific areas and add quality and value to their existing businesses.

The programme provides sessions on business planning and management, financial literacy, identity branding and market research over the period of 16 weeks.

The agreement is in line with BP’s ‘In Country Value’ strategy for SME development, added the report.