P.3 - Oman Tribune

OMAN TRIBUNE
NATION
TUESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2014
3
Al Rafd offers 18m rials in loans
1,000 SMEs benefited; Fund team to monitor firms’ activities
STAFF REPORTER
MUSCAT
Officials at the launch of the new scheme.
Al Hilal Islamic
Bank launches
savings scheme
STAFF REPORTER
MUSCAT
AL HILAL ISLAMIC BANK,
the Islamic banking window of
Ahli Bank, launched its ‘Al Namaa Islamic Savings Account’,
which the bank said was a great
investment opportunity for depositors who wished to earn
returns on their investments.
Investing in the account was
an authorisation to the bank
to invest the funds under the
unrestricted Mudarabah contract. The deposits would be
invested in the Mudarabah
pool along with other deposits and equity. The Mudarabah pool profit is distributed
among investors, taking into
consideration the tenor,
amount and profit payment
frequency, according to bank
officials.
The account ensures 100
per cent capital investment in
a Sharia-compliant way. There
would be high profit weightages based on deposit tiers,
immediate access to funds with
no minimum investment period and day-to-day accountchecking. There would also
be no limit on transactions
through ATM/debit card and
cheques.
Profit would be calculated
on monthly average balance
and distributed on monthly
basis.
Islamic banking head and
general manager Abdullah Al
Jabri said, “We aim to not only
serve the needs of customers
better, but also establish our
growing reputation as a local bank fully committed to
preserving the values of the
community. We are pleased to
contribute to Oman’s aspirations of becoming a hub for Islamic finance, and understand
that our suite of customercentric solutions is crucial to
serve and fulfil our customers’
needs. We are confident that
with products like ‘Al Namaa’,
Al Hilal Islamic will further establish its position as a reliable
and trusted banking partner in
the Sultanate.”
THE AL RAFD FUND
has disbursed 18 million rials in loans to 1,000 SMEs,
its CEO Tariq Al Farsi told
Oman Tribune on Monday.
Al Farsi said that from the
first batch of 40 SME borrowers, all had paid or were
in the process of paying their
first installments.
Three had pre-paid their
entire loans, which had tenures of 10 to 15 years. This
is he said is very important as
it “creates a culture of repayment, and it shows the businessmen are very serious”.
The fund is targeting segments like tourism, industry,
fisheries and agriculture, he
added.
Al Farsi said Al Raffd has a
director general and a team
that monitors what the bor-
Tariq Al Farsi
rowing SMEs do.
They examine the firms for
their financial, technical and
managerial skills and capability. The team is made up of
40-50 staff who have gradu-
ate degrees in business and
economics from Sultan Qaboos University, US and UK
and have undergone training
for this task.
Al Farsi said about 70 per
cent of the entrepreneurs
are in the 30-39 years age
group.
He said some were starting as businessmen after
having gained experience
as employees, while others
were entrepreneurs wanting
to expand their businesses.
Auditing firms vet the
SMEs and it is done twice
a year so that there is more
transparency and it “ensures
that the entrepreneurs are
going on the right track,”
he added.
Al Raffd Fund was set up
with a corpus of 70 million
rials and its programmes include: Mawred, that targets
social security groups; Tasees, for jobseekers wanting
to set up firms; Riyada, for
jobseekers, craftsmen, rural
women and those in business
incubators and ; Tazeez is for
business pioneers.
Al Rafd Fund logo launched
STAFF REPORTER
MUSCAT
THE AL RAFD FUND
lunched its logo on Monday at a function organised under the auspices of
HE Hamad Bin Khamis Al
Amri, Undersecretary at the
Ministry of Manpower for
Labour Affairs on Monday.
The function was attended by dignitaries,
high officials and young
entrepreneurs.
CEO of Al Raffd Fund
Tariq Al Farsi, said, “The
logo takes its inspiration
from traditional Islamic architecture,” and consists of
eight segments, representing
infinite multi-directional
growth and possibilities emanating from a central point,
HE Hamad Bin Khamis
Al Amri launches the
Al Raffd Fund logo.
that is, Al Raffd Fund.
The segments also convey the values of the fund:
Responsive, Innovators,
Optimists, Enablers, Mentors, Catalysts, Transparent
and Focused.
Al Farsi said that since the
fund targets youth, the deep
purple colour reflects the
contemporary personality
of the organisation, which
supports innovation, while
infusing warmth and tradition. The colour of gold reflects success and prosperity,
he added.
The logo will give the fund
a qualitative leap in its contribution to the diversification
of the economy, he added.
The fund was established
following the Forum on
Development of Small and
Medium Sized Institutions
held at Seih Al Shamikhat in
January 2013. His Majesty
Sultan Qaboos Bin Said issued Royal Directives towards its establishment and
it was established through
Royal Decree (6/2013).
The fund, with a capital
of 70 million rials, is targeted at, social security
beneficiaries, job seekers,
professionals, craftspeople,
at-home manufacturers,
rural women and any other
category created by a decision of the board of directors.
SMEs to be
honoured
at January
symposium
STAFF REPORTER
MUSCAT
MORE THAN 20
awards in four categories will be given to
SMEs and institutions
supporting them during a symposium for
SMEs that will be held
in January, Acting CEO
of Public Authority for
Small and Medium Enterprises Development
(Pasmed) Khalifa Al
Abri told Oman Tribune
on Monday. The symposium is a continuation of
programmes following
the Forum on Development of Small and
Medium Sized Institutions held at Seih Al
Shamikhat during 2123 January 2013.
The Entrepreneurship Awards are a way
to see that exceptional projects serve
as role models for entrepreneurs and the
categories include best
SME and best financial
institution supporting
SMEs.
Al Abri said as part of
a one-year programme,
83 young entrepreneurs
have been assigned 41
mentors from leading
companies.
Pasmed is also building a database of SMEs
in the country and currently 10,000 firms
have registered with
them, he added.
Oman-Nepal
air transport
gets a boost
MUSCAT
ON THE SIDELINES OF
the talks between the Sultanate and Nepal on air transport
services regulation, a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) was signed on Monday
on increasing the number of
flights.
The MoU was signed by HE
Anwar Bin Abdullah Al Raisi,
Acting Director General of
Civil Aviation Regularisation
on behalf of the Sultanate and
Suresh Manshrista, Undersecretary at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation on behalf of the Nepalese
side.
The MoU amends the agreement that was signed in 1997.
Two articles have been added
on the air safety, recognition
of certificates, approvals,
amending the name of the
civil aviation authority in the
Sultanate and amending the
route tables annexed to the
agreement.
The MoU included increasing the number of flights between the two countries from
7 to 21 per week for the appointed carrier to be increased
to 28 weekly flights with effect
from January 1, 2016. It also
opens the horizons between
the two countries to operate
any number of air cargo flights
without any restrictions.
The two sides also agreed
on common codes that allow
the national carriers to sign
common codes with national
carriers in other countries
to utilise the rights provided
by this MoU. It also provides
for enhancing cooperation in
technical fields that include air
navigation, air safety, meteorology, training and exchange
of visit.The talks between the
two countries will enhance
cooperation in both countries
in cultural, tourism and trade
fields and will also increase
air movement between the
two countries.
Oman News Agency
Diamond peel helps
keep skin healthy
MUSCAT
DIAMOND PEEL TREATment is a noninvasive cosmetic procedure that removes
excess oil, dirt and dead cells
on the surface of the skin to
reveal the younger, brighter
skin cells underneath. It can
even out a patchy complexion,
according to Sura Miqdad
Naji, GP in dermatology department at Al Bushra Clinic.
It is mechanical exfoliation
technique that can also reduce
occurrence of mild to moderate acne breakouts.
Like microdermabrasion,
diamond peel removes the
stratum corneum or the layer
of dead cells that makes up the
uppermost layer of the epidermis. Microdermabrasion uses
a sandblasting tool to shoot
tiny aluminum oxide crystals
at the surface of the skin. A di-
Abrasive diamond tool is used to remove dead cells.
amond peel is crystal free that
uses an abrasive diamond tip
instrument to gently loosens
the dead cells, dirt and debris
while the wand’s suction component vacuums them away.
Since the diamond peel
doesn’t use crystals, a dermatologist can manouvre the
wand near sensitive areas without the risk of crystals getting
in the eyes or mouth.
VGPFGT
The Internal Tenders Committee at the Ministry of Manpower announces the following tender:
Tender
No
Tender name
Competent companies
registered with the
tender board
Deadline for
submitting
tender bids
Cost of
brochures
111/2014
Adding the first floor to
the building of the
Directorate General of
manpower in Dhofar
First degree
Tuesday,
3/2/2015
RO100
Tender documents can be obtained from the Treasury Department at the ministry’s building
(in Murtafat Al Matar) 3rd floor, starting from Tuesday, 30/12/2014 for the non-refundable
abovementioned amount.
Each bid offer should be accompanied with temporary insurance, in the form of a bank
guarantee covering 1 per cent of the total amount of the bid offer, valid for 90 days starting
from the day the offer is made.
Bids should be submitted in sealed envelopes with the number and name of the tender written
on them. Neither the name of the person who offered the bid nor anything that might refer to
his identity should be written on the envelope.
Offers should be placed in the tender box at the Secretariat General of the Internal
Tenders’ Committee in the ground floor in the ministry’s building (in Murtafat Al Matar) at
the abovementioned date and before 10am. The envelopes will be opened at 11am of the
abovementioned date.
The ministry is not obliged to accept the lowest or any other tenders.
Call us on
97 26 78 22
The diamond peel procedure is painless and lasts
about 45 minutes. Potential
side effects of a diamond peel
include mild redness and
feeling like you have a mild
sunburn. The symptoms last
only a few hours. Some people
with acne or recently shaven
skin might experience some
bleeding with the procedure.
Oman Tribune

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