Small businesses seeking to capitalise on the market potential of rising economies such as those in the Gulf, China and India will now get a helping hand, thanks to a new initiative launched by Coventry University Enterprises (CUE), Omantel and Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM). 

The Soft Landing Zone programme has been set up by CUE in partnership with Britain’s Trade and Investment body in order to establish a network of hot desk offices around the globe. 

Minister of commerce and industry Maqbool bin Ali Sultan inaugurated the newest Soft Landing Zone based at KOM today (March 31).
 
The offices, located on key science and technology parks, are open to Soft Landing Zone member companies who are either considering or are at the early stages of undertaking international business. 

As well as desk space in a dedicated office - complete with IT services, telephone and post forwarding - businesses signing up to the Soft Landing Zone programme can also take advantage of a number of support services, said an official spokesman.

Each company is allocated a dedicated business support officer to advise or call in expertise on all legal, financial, cultural and practical issues of doing business in a particular country. 

Several growing businesses are already taking advantage of the Soft Landing Zone service located in nine countries in Europe and Asia.

“KOM’s Omantel-sponsored Soft Landing Zone will help small and medium-sized international businesses explore new markets in Oman and the Gulf region. Indeed, KOM’s Soft Landing Zone has the potential to facilitate international collaborations across the globe – it’s fantastic that we can offer hot desk facilities as well as business support services to international companies interested in doing business in this area of the world. The new office facility is a real feather in our cap,” said director general, KOM, Mohammed Al Maskari.

“KOM’s Soft Landing Zone is an extremely cost-efficient way for SMEs to establish an overseas sales presence and takes away much of the practical difficulties of being able to operate, both physically and virtually, overseas. We look forward to British companies working in the creative industries to utilize these new offices. We’re delighted that KOM and Omantel have taken the initiative to set up the first Soft Landing Zone in the Middle East,” said director Serious Games Institute, Coventry University, David Wortley.

The key locations for the Soft Landing Zone programme include Malaysia, India, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Poland, Romania, Sweden and Oman.  The programme also offers a reciprocal service for PEIE tenant companies to access Soft Landing Zone offices in all eight countries.  – TradeArabia News Service