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24-10-2018

Muscat Daily

MUSCAT - Muscat Finance (MF), represented by chairman Faisal bin Mohamed al Yousef, extended support for research and innovation at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) by offering a contribution to the university’s newly established Innovation Fund.

The SQU Innovation Fund, managed by SQU’s Innovation & Technology Transfer Centre, is one of the university’s initiatives that seek to place research and innovation at the very center of SQU’s approach to teaching and training, and community engagement. The fund supports advancement in these areas by providing various forms of support for SQU students, faculty and staff to engage in projects that have the potential to enhance innovative approaches in strategic social and economic areas.

Dr Rahma al Mahrooqi, deputy vice chancellor for Postgraduate Studies and Research, said, “Both SQU and Muscat Finance have a strong commitment to supporting innovation and research as drivers of sustainable development within the sultanate. The university has the infrastructure and processes in place to ensure that its student and staff’s innovative efforts and research outputs can be successfully transformed into the products, processes and knowledge that drive social and economic transformation. It is these innovative outcomes that lead to start-ups and new enterprises that are amongst the most important drivers of economic transformation, diversification, and job creation. One example of SQU’s achievement in these areas is the recent establishment of the Innovation & Technology Transfer Centre, along with the Innovation Fund which the center manages.”

Yousef said, “Muscat Finance has always believed in giving back to the community, which stems from its strong belief that MF has been successful because of the prosperity of the community under which it operates and giving back is part of its primary duty. Muscat Finance believes that the economy can prosper by having the right Education at all stages, such as the one being offered at SQU. We are living in a dynamic world, where being innovative is the only option for survival.

“After all, innovation and research are the tools with which our country will continue to prosper and progress. We hope that the Innovation and Technology Transfer Centre will incubate a number of enterprises that become vibrant SMEs and contribute to the growth of the economy not only through increasing its contribution to the Gross National Product, but also as creators of employment opportunities. Muscat Finance is committed to the development of SMEs both through the direct funding option as well as through contributions such as these.”

Incorporated in 1987, Muscat Finance is the sultanate’s first finance company that has been licensed under the Banking Laws as a Non-Banking Finance Company. In an eventful existence spanning more than 30 years, Muscat Finance has pioneered the concepts of Car Finance, Hire-Purchase, Leasing, Consumer Durable Financing, Debt Factoring and Working Capital Financing in the ever-expanding market in Oman. The company has an extensive network of branches, covering all regions of the sultanate.

The SQU Innovation Fund is an important avenue whereby organisations across the country can directly contribute to Oman’s research and innovative activity. The fund, according to the deputy vice chancellor, adopts a multifaceted approach to supporting innovation and transforming research output into prototypes, products and processes that have the potential to enhance economic competitiveness and social development.

These approaches include by supporting research projects in areas of strategic importance for the country, developing research capacity and infrastructure, promoting innovation across research and teaching, and ensuring that the university’s research and innovative efforts offer direct benefit to the community.

It is through such cooperation in supporting youth research and innovation that the Innovation Fund ensures that Oman successfully realises its development goals. Dr Rahma concluded that the country will be able to successfully reap the benefits of economic transformation while playing an important role in a competitive world.