OABC News

The Canadian Health Centre’s Counseling Psychologist Sara Hassan advises everyone to equally prioritize their mental and physical health during this time.

Remember that your overall wellbeing is always a priority, however; during a worldwide crisis such as Covid-19 your wellbeing and safety are crucial. Maintain a positive attitude regarding what is going on in the world and trust the process. This will pass so take advantage of the time you have towards the things you didn’t have time to do during the hustle and bustle of your daily lives prior to the pandemic. If watching and reading the news makes you anxious limit your viewing or maybe even get the latest accurate information from a trusted friend or colleague every other day rather than daily. Furthermore, adopt a positive perspective and engage in healthy behaviors like eating healthy, staying well hydrated and exercising in your home or outdoors keeping in mind and sticking to the strict social distancing rules. Although we are currently social distancing, maintaining the meaningful emotional connections is a crucial part of staying positive and hopeful together.  So utilize all the social media and electronic platforms available to you. Your feelings are valid and you are not alone so make sure you talk to family and friends and engage in those meaningful conversations.

Also, take advantage of the excessive time you have and do the things you’ve always wanted to do like draw, paint, read, dance, sing, journal, and organize your closet, for example. Finally, try to be mindful in everything you do, whether it is while walking, cooking, eating, and praying, for example. Focus on the 5 things you can see, 4 things you can touch, 3 things you can hear, 2 things you can smell and the 1 thing you can taste. This is an extremely effective grounding technique. We are all in this together so lets all show each other love, kindness and compassion.

For more information on any of the material presented here don’t hesitate to contact the Canadian Health Centre at 24139659, or connect with Sara Hassan directly on hassan.sara1@gmail.com 

Twenty Northeastern University students representing family businesses from around the world, together with professors, panelists, ABA students, and OABC board members, participated in the Oman Family Business Forum, organized by the Oman American Business Center on March 5. The event was sponsored by the Grand Hyatt Muscat.

Members of the OABC participated a panel discussion moderated by Dr. Greg Collier, Professor of Practice at Northeastern University, and answered questions designed to encourage and impart knowledge to the students, each of whom are about to graduate and possibly enter their own family businesses.

Non-family CEO’s in Oman shared about their personal experience in serving family businesses, from the unique opportunities presented, to the differences between such organizations and other corporate structures. Other CEOs discussed their partnerships or joint ventures with family-run companies, and the importance of shared values and cultural understanding in business.

Panelists discussed the significance of gaining industry experience upon graduation, before returning to work in the family business, and each left the students with some closing remarks about their futures, regardless of paths chosen.  Mark Rix, CEO of Apex Media, encouraged the students to “Never stop learning, no matter your age or how long you work — there is always more to learn.”

“We are thrilled with the willingness of our members, each of whom are busy executives, to offer their time and support during a critical point in these students’ lives,” says Rebecca Olson, Executive Director of the OABC. “Providing a space for the exchange of ideas and the building up of understanding is a key objective of the OABC. We are grateful for the opportunity to host these students from a top U.S. university, and also to discuss a topic of such great importance and interest to the Oman business community.”

OABC member Mr. Sadiq Al Lawati, local entrepreneur and restauranteur, took time out to chat over coffee with Omani entrepreneurs who are participants in the Wasel program @omifco_sme_prog.

The entrepreneurs all have existing restaurant and retail stores throughout Oman and are in the process of franchising in Oman and the GCC. As the franchisee of successful local venues such as Slider Station, Shaabestan, b&f diner and Haagen-Dazs, Mr. Al Lawati shared his insights and experience in the areas of demographic analysis and site selection, product development in Oman, and general franchisee-franchisor relations in Oman and the region.

The Wasel program is financed by the Oman India Fertilizer Company (OMIFCO) and is managed by OABC member firm, Inspired Solutions. The program targets existing Omani SMEs which are seeking growth capital and prepares them to become investment ready.

An event on Wednesday brought together youths, SMEs, environment groups and the business community with the common goal of sharing ideas on how to protect the environment.

Participants said that as Oman is endowed with pristine natural beauty, everyone needs to play their part to protect it. A call was made for people and businesses to care about the environment.

Oman American Business Center (OABC) and Apex Media organised Sustainability Fair at Grand Hyatt Muscat to raise awareness by bringing together different communities.

Awareness is the key
“Awareness starts at an early age and we can learn from the creativity and ideas of younger generations. Global Shapers Muscat helped to organise this event. Established through the World Economic Forum, it is a network of future leaders of Oman under the age of 30 working together with young people to explore how they can change their communities for the greater good,” Marla Valdez, member of OABC, said.

Many of the participating organisations were legacies of the Late Sultan Qaboos bin Said’s vision for Oman. This included The Oman Botanic Garden which is a word-class development project to cultivate study and conserve Oman’s rich native flora, Oman Animal & Plant Genetic Resources Center established to protect Oman’s globally significant genetic diversity of animals, plants and micro organisms and be’ah, whose mission is to work towards sustainable waste management practices.

Joining hands with communities
Marla said that, ‘we are blessed to live in a country with such beautiful oceans, deserts, mountains and natural habitats’. “We hope that by bringing together various disparate members of the community in Oman it will generate dialogue and hopefully inspire further collaboration on common cause initiatives.

We believe that we are stewards of the environment and by raising awareness we can, as a community, help protect Oman’s environment. We also believe that everyone in our community has a role to play, and no contribution to the preservation of our environment is too small or insignificant.”

Responsibility to protect environment
H H Sayyida Tania bint Shabib al Said, president of Environment Society of Oman (ESO) was the guest of honour at the event.
ESO, a non-profit organisation was established to protect and conserve Oman’s natural heritage.

“As a founding board member and president of ESO, I am hugely supportive of today’s agenda, which aims to raise awareness about the importance of sustainability in Oman and to explore ways in which we can all work together to foster a culture of sustainability,” Sayyida Tania said.

She stressed that the responsibility of protecting our environment is with all of us and ‘encouraged everyone to think about the lifestyles they lead and the decisions they make as consumers’. Sayyida Tania highlighted the important role that students must play as environmental campaigners for a sustainable future. “You are the future custodians of our planet and it is your ideas that will shape what our future looks like.”

Apex Media was the media partner of the event because of its commitment to the environment through initiatives such as the ‘Bitter About Litter’ and recycling campaigns.

Find more pictures on our Facebook page.

OABC’s first networking event of 2020 ‘New Year, New Opportunities’ was sponsored by Qatar Airways. The event was held at the Crowne Plaza Muscat on Monday, February 24^th. The evening brought together over 120 members of the Oman American Business Center (AmCham Oman), from member executives to Oman’s decision-makers. The evening shared great moments of connection with members of the OABC, old and new, over canapes, drinks and the most spectacular view in town.

Members and executives from the business community were joined by Stephanie Hallet, US Deputy Chief of Mission to Oman as a special guest of honour.

Emmee Haun, OABC Co-Founder highlighted the company’s growth over the past years, she also thanked Qatar Airways for their membership, support towards the OABC community and their generous sponsorship of the event. Qatar Airways gifted two raffle tickets to the US and provided branded giveaways to all of OABC members.

Qatar Airways’ Beyond Business program was highlighted and OABC members learned of ways to receive greater benefits through the unique rewards program.

The evening was also complete with a jazz band and lots of nibbles. As always, we also give thanks to our beverage sponsor, OUA, for providing the drinks for the evening.

As all OABC’s events, the night was a huge success for executives and decision-makers from all nationalities to meet, build relationships, learn and discuss key matters of interest to the business community in Oman.

Find more pictures on our Facebook page.

Our members were invited to a presentation on Oman’s labour law, in partnership with Global Advocacy and Legal Counsel on Monday, February 10th, from 8 am – 10:30 am at the Jabrin ballroom, in the InterContinental Hotel Muscat.

The session addressed the nature and relationships between employees and employers – specifically termination of employment relationships, effective ways for dispute resolution, and the role of the government during employment disputes.

The event started at 8 am with coffee, breakfast and a presentation from experts with Global Advocacy and Legal Counsel, followed by case studies and Q & A.

The event was a huge success with lots of positive feedback. We give special thanks to Abdulredha and his team at Global Advocates for presenting a hot topic and for sharing their expert insights.

Thank you also to all our members who attended and for sending their legal/ HR representatives.

Members of the OABC were invited for a meet and greet with the U.S. Consular Section Chief, Mr. Manav Jain on Monday, 27th January from 4-6 pm at Bait Al Reem Business Center, 6th Floor (Palm Board Room).

Manav discussed consular section FAQ’s and addressed questions about visas and other services over donuts and coffee from 3rd Street Donuts.

The session was informative and helped our members receive real, tangible and useful information first-hand.

We thank Manav for his prompt responses with follow-up email queries and for his continued support for our members.

The OABC hosted our annual Christmas Celebration at the Zale Beach Club and Lounge, at the Kempinski Hotel on Tuesday, 17th December from 7 – 9 pm.

New and old members came together for an evening filled with cheerful music, business networking, drinks and festive fare, all in the name of Christmas cheer!

We are also pleased to have the U.S. Embassy’s Chargé d’affaires Stephanie Hallett as our special guest of honor for this event.

Find more pictures on our Facebook page.