14 November 2006

Oman Gateway Portal Wins BBIC 2006

Oman Gateway Portal picked up first prize at the 2006 TKM – Ernst & Young Big Business Idea Competition at an award dinner held Monday evening at the Barr Al Jissah Spa & Resort. Organized under the patronage of HE Maqbool bin Ali Sultan, Minister of Commerce & Industry and Chairman, Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE), over 220 guests packed the hotel's Al Bandar Ballroom to watch the four finalists - Oman Geometrics; Dalali; AqarOman; and Oman Gateway Portal - deliver 5 minute elevator pitches to a panel of judges and battle it out for RO6,000 in start-up funds plus 12 months rent free accommodation in The Knowledge Mine incubator program based at Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM).

"We're delighted to win the competition" remarked Zawan Al Sabti who partners Majda Al Hinai and Maha Al Balushi (pictured above with Minister Maqbool bin Ali Sultan) in the Oman Gateway Portal, a dynamic and interactive online tourism company. "Given the number and quality of entries to the competition we're thrilled to come out on top. The start-up funds plus free office accommodation in TKM will give us a tremendous boost in getting our company up and running," said Zawan.


"This is the first year that we've organized the competition" remarked Abdullah Al Jufaili, TKM Director, "it attracted in excess of 70 business plans from across the sultanate, many more than we had anticipated." According to Ibtisam Al Faruji, the competition co-ordinator: "The TKM – Ernst & Young Big Business Idea Competition is designed to encourage creative and highly motivated people to form teams, sharpen their thoughts, and focus their energies and talents on developing business ideas with the potential for commercial impact and success. We're confident that the competition will help develop entrepreneurial talent, contribute to the innovative spirit of the sultanate and help national economic growth."

But the real prize is advice and feedback from the experienced judges and the business plan seminars delivered by Ernst & Young. "Just over half of the participating teams took advantage of these sessions. Education is what the competition is really about. If you have an idea for a new venture, then the TKM – Ernst & Young Big Business Idea Competition offers practical guidance and financing that helps turn dreams into reality," remarked Al Jufaili.

"TKM plays an important role in turning outstanding new ideas into products, services and processes which will help us build a healthier, safer society, a cleaner environment and a dynamic knowledge economy for the 21st century. The TKM – Ernst & Young Big Business Idea Competition is an important step towards realizing this goal, helping to turn ambitions into reality and increasing our rate of innovation," commented Dave Pender, Adviser, PEIE.

This year's competition attracted an unprecedented amount of support from government and the business community: "without input from Ernst & Young; Ericsson; Nawras; NCR; ITA; National Bank of Oman; The Week; Infocomm; and Talal Abu Ghazaleh we couldn't have organized such an important national initiative," said Al Jufaili.