Muscat – The Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) held its ordinary general assembly meeting on Sunday. The meeting, which was held at the OCCI headquarters, discussed the means of examining the directions and demands of the private sector during the next period.
The meeting was chaired by Eng Redha bin Juma al Saleh, board chairman of the OCCI, and was attended by members of the general assembly, according to a press statement.
At the beginning of the meeting, Saleh commended the support and guidance of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tariq. He explained that such support reflects His Majesty’s attention paid to ensuring the sustainability of the private sector as a partner in the development process.
Saleh elaborated that this support drives the private sector to contribute effectively to the journey of building the national economy and achieving the objectives of Oman’s Vision 2040.
He also reviewed the role of the private sector organisations in the current exceptional conditions and amid the negative impacts of COVID-19 outbreak on the economy and the business sector.
Saleh said, “The OCCI strives during this extraordinary period to reflect the directions, demands and conditions of the private sector by adopting some initiatives that sought to reduce the severity of COVID-19 implications and manage its impacts at various sectors.”
He touched upon the decisions issued by the Supreme Committee entrusted with dealing with the impacts resulting from the coronavirus outbreak during the last week. These decisions included the cancellation of fines for expired licenses, renewing the labor cards of non-Omanis and the cancellation of fines accrued on all organisations and companies for not renewing their commercial registration certificates.
The Supreme Committee’s decisions also included exempting the SMEs from paying the fees of Riyada card, as well as urging the banks and finance companies to cooperate with the affected borrowers, particularly SMEs.
Saleh also reviewed some facilities provided during the past year after the OCCI exerted great efforts to prove the sufferings of private sector organisations.
“The OCCI has also taken part in many studies in collaboration with the respective entities to contribute to the recovery of private sector organisations and to reduce the adverse impacts that afflicted them as a result of the economic and health crises,” he added.
The meeting also discussed the OCCI’s endeavors to develop the economies of the Wilayats through its branches across all the Omani governorates. The contributions made by the OCCI to national companies that are being established at the Wilayats were highlighted.
The meeting also reviewed some of the OCCI’s contributions including launching the OCCI fund and its social corporate responsibility program to support the private sector with an amount of RO1mn. Through this fund, the OCCI supported the efforts exerted by the Ministry of Health to combat the coronavirus spread with an amount of RO500,000. It has also contributed to the Career Security Fund with an amount of RO1mn.
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