To support the circular economy ecosystem in Oman, Be’ah has launched the accelerator programme to support entrepreneurs. On Tuesday, Be’ah signed a pact with Inspired Solutions, an SME consultancy firm to launch Eco-Innovate Oman (EIO).  

This acceleration programme is considered to be the first in Oman designed to support innovative entrepreneurs who are working to implement creative and sustainable solutions to meet today’s environmental resource challenges.  

Dr Farah al Barwani, research and development manager at the Environmental Center of Excellence in Be’ah, said, “The EIO platform will select few local startups at various stages of development that demonstrate high potential within field of environmental sustainability such as waste management, agriculture, water aquaculture/marine, biotechnology, eco-tourism, and other environmental sectors. “With a team of local and international experts and the support of the relevant local stakeholders, these startups will be driven through targeted training programmes with the aim of preparing the SMEs to become investment-ready.”  

Dr Farah said that the local team comprises Omani entrepreneurs with a deep and extensive history of business in Oman and other countries.  

“Our international partners include a number of specialists in resource management, circular economy and impact investment, including Fraunhofer (Germany), Deltares (Netherlands), Stride (US), Vito (Belgium) and the Polsky institute for entrepreneurship and innovation (US). The range of different expertise provided by our local and international partners will support our aims to provide effective targeted development for each individual SME.”  

Inspired Solutions, an SME consultancy firm that runs a number of such accelerator programmes has facilitated the development of over 130 Omani SMEs.  

Oman understands the importance developing the waste management sector, which had resulted in establishing the Oman Environmental Services Holding Company (Be’ah). Royal Decree 46/2009 granted Be’ah the mandate and the legal entity responsible for solid waste management.  

Be’ah works to implement the best environmental strategy, developing the sector with the best international standard, and cooperate with private sector and civil society to reduce waste and conserve the Omani environment. The company has a certificate in Integrated Management System (ISO 9001: 2015 & ISO1400:2015).