OMAN FORUM – BUILDING NATIONAL TALENT

Is an initiative of Oman’s premier business magazine Alam al-Iktisaad Wal A’mal (AIWA), brought together the government, private & public sector, workers’ community, academia, consultants and media on a single platform to debate on the state of education & training, youth employment policies & initiatives, identify talent gaps & challenges and create the guidelines to set up the road map for future. The event consisted of a debate on the subject through two panel discussions comprising the stakeholders from different quarters of the society.

Organized on 17 April, 2012 in association with Petroleum Development Oman (PDO), OMAN FORUM – BUILDING NATIONAL TALENT was supported by the Ministry of Manpower, Ministry of Higher Education, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Civil Services, Sultan Qaboos University, Oman Society of Contractors and The Research Council (TRC). AhliBank, Voltamp, Galfar and Omran were the Strategic Partners whereas Omantel, Oman Cables Industry and Vale were the Associate Partners for the prestigious forum. KPMG was the Knowledge Partner and Times of Oman and Al Shabiba were the Media Partners for the event. The venue for the event was Majan ballroom, Al Bustan Palace Ritz-Carlton.

The primary objective of the forum was to promote thought leadership by disseminating information on the subject and constructing innovative ideas for a wider participation of the Omani youth in the national building process and upliftment of the society. For the first time in Oman, an event of this nature was webcasted live on www.sowlef.com/live

“Renaissance has opened up new vistas of scientific progress and educational development. The Government considers human resource development as a crucial investment for nation building. The Research Council continues to take various innovative steps to improve the quality of scientific and technical education in the country. The Public Authority for Manpower Registration seeks to strengthen the coordination between various institutions in the country. It will help private sector companies to find out the capable hands and the job seekers to get updated about the right opportunities. The Authority has taken various initiatives and signed several agreements to strengthen the agreement between both private and public sectors,” stated HE Mohsin Al Balushi, Advisor to the Ministry of Commerce & Industry and Chairman of The Public Authority for Manpower Registration. He was the Guest of Honour at Oman Forum – Building National Talent.

Talking at the event, HE Dr.Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al Sarmi, Undersecretary, Ministry of Higher Education said, “It is high time we shifted from consuming knowledge to producing knowledge, by emerging as knowledge based economy. The task of building national talent and equipping youngsters and enabling them to contribute to the nation building is a collective responsibility to be shouldered both by the private and public sectors. The Ministry of Higher Education sends students to over 40 countries for higher studies. English is the main language and the medium of study in all these countries. They come back well trained and equipped to take up the challenging tasks awaiting them in the local industry. But we don’t send them to Latin American countries because of the concerns about the security and education environment in those countries. Although we have sent some students to Japan recently, we had to shift them to other countries because of the language problems.”

Among the other panelists, Mundhir Al Barwani, HR-Director, Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) said, “Private sector companies ought to play a big role in building national talent. PDO accords great importance to train its employees and make them capable of handling new challenges. We send out diploma holders every year abroad to complete their studies. In addition, we give in-house training in all areas for our employees.”

Hussain Bin Salman Al-Lawati, Vice Chairman & MD, Oman Cables Industry said, “There is no denying the fact that the foundation of our education system is strong and our labour law is strong enough to create relevant job opportunities for Omanis. But now, we have to build on this good foundation in secondary education to develop a high-quality and professionally sound higher education system to meet the new requirements of various industries in our fast developing country. We need to concentrate more on developing the skillsets and capabilities required by the job market in the country.”

Over 300 people had attended the event moderated by Yousuf Al Hooti, noted journalist & Oman TV anchor. The complete list of panelists included:

PANEL 1: Building National Talent – Achievements So Far, Gaps and Related Challenges

1. HE Dr.Abdullah Bin Mohammed Al Sarmi, Undersecretary, Ministry of Higher Education
2. HE Sulayem Al Hikmani, Head-Business Committee, Majlis Al Shura
3. Fares bin Ahmed Al Roshdi, Asst. DG – Operations, Ministry of Manpower
4. Nabila Al Ghassani, Deputy Director General - HR Development (Planning of Rehabilitation Programmes and Training), Ministry of Education
5. Hussain Bin Salman Al-Lawati, Vice Chairman & MD, Oman Cables
6. Mundhir Al Barwani, HR-Director, PDO
7. Najla Al-Jamali, Head of Business and Strategic Affairs, Vale Oman

PANEL 2: Building National Talent – Solutions to the Challenges & the Way Forward

1. Dr. Hana Mohd Amen, Advisor- Scientific Research and Studies, Ministry of Higher Education
2. Amor Nasser Almatani, Deputy CEO, Oman LNG
3. Abdullah Ahmed Omar, GM-Corporate Affairs, Voltamp Energy
4. Mohammed Amor Al Barwani, General Manager – HR, Oman Oil Marketing Company
5. Saud Ali Al Jabri, Chairman, General Federation of Oman Trade Unions
6. Said Abdullah Al Hatmi, DGM & CFO, AhliBank
7. Malak Al Shaibani, General Manager - HR Solutions, Talent2
8. Khalid Al Haribi, Co-Founder, Tawasul

Khalid Ansari, Partner, KPMG presented a report ‘Oman-Getting Future Ready’ which critically analyses the challenges facing building national talent and proposes guidelines for a suitable solution to overcome the challenges. Read the report by clicking on English and Arabic.

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