Laila Saeed Al Harti is an AI expert; Amal Abdallah Raisi is a fashion retailer; Zuwaina Sultan Al Rushdie runs a crafts company.
The three women are part of a growing group of female entrepreneurs who are helping to expand Oman’s business footprint across the GCC and beyond.
The London event noted that new initiatives launched by the Sultanate as part of its Vision 2040 and a cultural change towards working women have laid the foundation for women to thrive.
According to Arwa Al Bursi, commercial and investment officer at the Omani embassy in London, working to empower women is not just a matter of social justice, but also an investment in the country’s “human capital”.
Women have registered 70 percent of small businesses in Oman in the past decade, according to Muscat-based technology company Alisi. Jen Grammoldt of Q5, a UK-based consultancy with an office in Oman, said there were more female engineers than males in Oman.
The proportion of women entrepreneurs is expected to rise to 32% in 2022 from 29% in 2021, while the proportion of women business owners will reach 6.1% in 2022, the Bureau of Indian Statistics said. Oman Observer.
Al-Harthi said: National of She talks about the challenges she overcame as a computer scientist in her early 20s when building Dawam, an AI-powered recruiting platform in 2019.
In the early stages, finding investment was the first hurdle as she was programming and publishing the software herself, and there were also cultural challenges as she had to be home at a certain time and was not allowed to travel alone.
She said the market is more likely to invest in women-owned businesses.
“As the number of women entrepreneurs started to increase, it helped a lot in improving the local culture in terms of time constraints and solo travel,” she said.
Speaking at the Oman-UK Business Forum in London this week, Dhawan explained how he combined his in-depth knowledge of Omani culture and technology to ensure his programs incorporated the country’s extensive regional differences and traditions.
“Oman is rich in culture. You see different accents, different cultures, different behaviors in different parts of Oman,” she said. Capitalizing on these nuances, the platform helped the Ministry of Tourism recruit people from the region.
Part of Oman
Designer Raishi She founded her fashion company in 2006 with the desire to incorporate an Omani identity into her clothes. “We started as a small brand. I had no experience in the fashion industry. All I had was the will to make it successful,” she said. The National.
She did not have her own workshop, regularly outsourced work and made frequent trips to India to work with local tailors.
Two years later, she opened her own boutique and atelier in Muscat. What started as a collection of abayas and kaftans now includes ready-to-wear, bridal and children’s wear, and is sold across the Gulf, including at Harvey Nichols in Dubai.
Raisi said Oman had public funds for small and medium-sized enterprises and “strong” support from the government, creating a healthy environment for him to grow his business.
“Each collection is inspired by Omani culture and history. People really relate to that. We’re not just a fashion brand; we exist to tell the Omani story to the world,” she said.
She now mentors aspiring fashion designers in Oman through an apprenticeship program in her atelier.
As she explores new markets outside the GCC, her goal is to take her collection to the fashion capitals of Europe: “London is one of the major fashion cities in the world. One of my ultimate goals is to break into the London market. Harrods is my target,” she said.
Al Raisi believes her creations and silhouettes “will resonate with women all over the world.”
“I’ve been the top-selling regional designer at Harvey Nichols (Gulf Coast) for six consecutive seasons,” she says. “I’m at the stage where I’m ready to go beyond regional boundaries and hopefully internationally, which is no easy feat as it comes with a lot of responsibility.”
Preserving tradition
Al Rashdi said he set up his own business selling traditional Omani crafts in 2013, driven by the need to better brand and represent Omani products.
“I wanted to do something that would add value to society. We have great products and talent but our presentation is weak,” she said.
Currently, her company, World of Handicraft, has eight branches and factories, including one in Doha, Qatar.
She works closely with female artisans, mostly from southern Oman, whose traditions are disappearing, and who tend to come from conservative rural areas. [as businesswomen]”But they want to work to get financial support, and they can work from home and take care of their children,” she said.
Al Rushdie is in the process of securing a new branch in Saudi Arabia and hopes to be able to sell his work in London as well, and said he would welcome the opportunity to help businesses like his grow in the UK.
“We try to benefit from anything that leads to growth. We are working with the chamber of commerce and the embassy, ​​especially the commercial attachés, to see what opportunities are available,” she said.
Areej Haider Darwish, a businessman and philanthropist who chairs the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s women’s committee, said women in Oman work in all sectors, with many holding top positions.
“They’re everywhere, you can see them everywhere. [kinds of] “They’re passionate about their work, so if they want something, they do it well,” she said. National“I’m very happy and proud of them.”
Updated: May 31, 2024, 6:00 PM
