'Made in Oman' campaign promotion tasks continue

MUSCAT: Organised by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion and in cooperation with the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (Madayn), the Authority of Small, Medium Enterprises Development, the Consumer Protection Authority, and a number of other relevant entities from the public and private sectors, the 'Made in Oman' campaign continues its promotion tasks.

The campaign aims to support the Omani industry by promoting its products, encouraging the local and residing consumers to buy Omani products. The campaign also seeks to find new marketing outlets for the Omani products in commercial centres, malls and hypermarkets, across the governorates of the Sultanate.

Commenting on Made in Oman campaign, Nasima bint Yahya al Balushi, head of the national campaign team for supporting the Omani product (Made in Oman) at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, pointed out that Omani products have a good reputation abroad in terms of quality, while there are competitive local products of building material, food products and other products of several sectors, are being exported to more than 130 countries across the world.

“Buying Omani products is a real support for the national economy, as this attitude contributes to increasing the Sultanate’s gross domestic product (GDP), by increasing the national economic income, while the culture of buying national products among various segments of society is considered as a national responsibility of each individual toward enhancing the purchasing power and increasing the companies’ production, as well as providing new job opportunities in the private sector,” Nasima bint Yahya al Balushi, said.

Engineer Saleh Bin Mohammed Al Shanfari, CEO of Oman Food Investment Holding Company (OFIC), Chairman of the Food Security Committee at the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry stated, ”It is very important to raise community awareness about the availability of the Omani products and its distinction in terms of being the best option for the consumers, as it is the output of the implemented Omani specifications that make Omani products a preferred option for those who are seeking for quality and excellence. While emphasizing on choosing Omani products has direct support for the national economy and contributes to creating new job opportunities as well.

Al-Shanfari added, “Omani products need a wide awareness campaign among the community by various kinds of media. This action could be done through the presence of particular legislations, guidance and general compatibility on giving Omani product the required space at the shelves of major stores, and hypermarkets whether it is a product of large companies or of small, medium companies, or even home’s production that adheres to the Omani specifications.”

Oman Food Investment Holding Company (OFIC) CEO also emphasised that Omani products are also looking for fair competition, while some imported products are enjoying financial support from their countries, especially those countries that encourage exports to obtain more hard currencies by providing wide areas to enhance the competitive capabilities of their exports in the overseas markets.

In this context, he pointed out that "the regulation against to the commercial dumping exists, but its activation and the time it takes to prove its efficiency needs us to understand it and to innovate in how to implement such legislation."

He also stated, "Investing in food security is a safety valve for any country that has awareness of its importance, while the Sultanate has alerted for this point early and has invested in it, so the founding of Oman Food Investment Holding Company (OFIC) by the government, which is clear evidence of this early realization of the importance of food security."

"The Sultanate has worked to establish a strong system that integrates with targets of having food security by creating a complete food reserve program, either through local storage or working with suppliers to ensure the availability of a minimum level of basic commodities at any time and also to assure the availability of these commodities in times of emergency so as to find the required balance in the local markets," he added.

The experience of investing in the food industries in the Sultanate is a model to be emulated and should be continued at the level of expanded commercial production, as the local production of Mazoon Dairy Company and the local poultry products have proven the ability of the Omani products to gain the confidence of the Omani consumer at an amazing and fast rate.

In addition to that, the home initiatives which approached the local consumers through electronic sales platforms and by the home delivery companies, have witnessed clear and surprising leaps at the time of decreasing the visiting of the people to the marketing outlets during the spread of coronavirus pandemic.

Sa'id Bin Abdullah Al Kharousi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Omani Farmers Association, said, "It is necessary to intensify media campaigns at all levels by various print, visual and audio media, as well as in schools, colleges and universities, urging consumers to prefer the Omani product in order to be the first choice for them and to guide consumers with the great benefits of the local product, in term of its returns to the national economy or in creating job opportunities for the national forces and in encouraging the expansion of the production capacity of Omani factories."

He added, "Omani products need for a special method of display at the large hypermarket marketing outlets, where a particular space must be found for Omani products, which must be distinguished from the rest of the shelves and corners of the imported products, as well as setting guidelines for local products, clarifying the quality and packaging methods, and finding distinctive packaging for each local product to be more attractive for the consumer."

He emphasised, "If we would like to empower Omani products to compete with imported products in Oman or abroad, we must choose our local product and preferred it than the imported ones.

Sa'id Al Kharousi revealed that there is a plan to target some European markets by increasing the export of the Omani products to these markets such as Britain, France, Germany and Italy, while there are studies for the Russian market and its neighbouring countries, but this matter needs support from the official concerned authorities, in term of providing facilities at airports as well as in airline ticket prices.

Al-Kharousi confirmed that there is an attempt made to improve the production process and to introduce modern technologies in terms of improving the greenhouses agricultural methods, irrigation systems or methods of combating agricultural pests in all their forms and to use artificial intelligence in the field of the protected agriculture.

Engineer Adnan bin Mohammad Al Alawi, CEO of the Oman Dates Production and Packing Company, emphasized on the importance of creating of a group of high-quality Omani products, as the quality is one of the attraction factors for promoting the Omani product in addition to excellence in terms of packaging and the selection of attractive colours, as well as intensifying advertising campaigns for the companies by various media and social, so as to support for the Omani products.

He added, "The inculcation of a culture of supporting the national product requires greater efforts by all Omani institutions and companies, whenever inserting advertising campaigns, as some products need an added value that enables them to compete with other products."

CEO of the Oman Dates Production and Packing Company also pointed out that, the sustainability of the availability of basic raw materials in the manufacture of products ensures their continuity in addition to linking with modern technologies and setting the highest standards that commensurate with the local and regional markets so that the Omani product can reach the foreign markets.

 Emphasizing that the Sultanate is rich in geographical diversity and suitable topography, based on this, it can build a wide range of food products manufacturing facilities, while we are in need to work out a set of experiments in cultivating new types of agricultural crops through which it is possible to achieve diversity in the food field and to establish partnerships with a group of developed countries.