MADE-IN-OMAN DAIRY
Dairy projects in the Sultanate not only improve the lives of farmers, but also significantly support the country's food security strategy.


What was the driver behind your dairy project?
ARJUN SUBRAMANIAN As a local brand, Mazoon Dairy's core market strategy has always been to build brand loyalty among local consumers. In line with this strategy, we launched our products in October 2019, expanding from Muscat to northern and southern Oman, reaching Salalah within the first 100 days. Despite carrying out in-depth studies about demand and production, we kept falling short on supply every time. We plan to use our extra capacity because we need to double our production over the next six to eight months. Our distribution strategy has been to cover all the major retail outlets where footfall is high. Going forward, we are looking more into covering hotel and catering (HoReCa) as the tourism sector is expected to grow. By doing so, we will gain valuable experience that we use in international markets. We are looking at exporting to nearby countries. Our goal is to enter both retail and HoReCa segments at the same time.
NASSER ALI BAIT SAID The idea of collecting milk from rural people and farmers was launched in the 1980s, but it was only recently formed and executed. In 2016, the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Finance, and OFIC sat down to develop a business plan for dairy farming in the southern part of Oman, Dhofar, which has more than 50% of the total animals in Oman. The founder committee developed a partnership with an Omani counterpart, forming Al Morooj. Our vision is to adopt modern technologies and practices in the dairy field and convert traditional practices to up-to-date ones. This will result in providing a commercial outlook to the business, which has been supported by the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, and also the Dhofar Governor to support the land for the centers near to the farmers. Dhofar Wilayat supports the herders for this project in terms of increasing farmers' sustainability and improving their lives. It has provided us with all the necessary tools to increase productivity and cut costs in all areas of the process.
Where does technology make the greatest impact on your supply chain?
AS Technology has a huge impact on the inbound and outbound supply chain. Mazoon's production has basically increased from zero to 200,000 liters per day in no time, which equals a lot of pressure to the supply chain. We designed IT systems and integrated handheld terminals, sales management systems, and automation. The entire decision-making process is automated and delegated. We are also one of the few companies in Oman with an automated forecasting system, which uses AI. Since we are in the fresh food business, we need to know how much to supply every day. It reduces human error, helps us monitor and review, and gives weather warnings. We also have a root process system. Being a new company, we depend a lot on our sales team on the ground. People on the ground can only cover so many outlets in a day, but our root process system allows them to plan efficiently.
What is the key to integrate small farmers' activities into the mainstream production processes of the national economy?
NABS The main challenge lies in changing the traditional practice of farmers, as they have inherited practices set in centuries. Raising animals, milking them, and managing the milk have all been dramatically revolutionized by the advent of technology. The key is making farmers understand that adopting these practices will lead to higher income and also improving the standard of life, which will result in the contribution of Omani national food security. Another major challenge is controlling the quality of milk. The old model relied on collection points in every community in rural areas, without looking at the time employed to bring the milk to the central processing factory. This implied not only a lack of efficiency, but also a high volume of milk becoming sour before it could be treated. As such, we adopted a chiller center to maintain the milk at lower temperatures for longer times. We are also adopting intensive testing tools in our microbiological labs to prevent diseases from being spread through milk.

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Focus: Future foreign policy
Friends to all, enemy to none
In championing the late Sultan Qaboos' non-interference foreign policy, the new ruler of Oman, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, is determined to work for friendship and peace, justice and harmony, and coexistence and positive constructive dialogue.
read articleInterview
David Kalife, CEO, Oman Oil Marketing Company (OOMCO)
Despite Oman's fuel market slowing down, OOMCO increased its sales volume of lubricants by 36% in 2019 and is constructing a greenfield bunker terminal at the Port of Duqm. The company has transformed while growing its expertise in Marketing and Digital.
read articleInterview
Azzan Al Busaidi, CEO, Ithraa
Azzan Al Busaidi is an expert in competitiveness and economic growth. He was appointed CEO of Ithraa in 2019 after 17 years spent covering managerial roles in the organization. Al Busaidi was previously Ithraa's director general of planning and studies and is a strong advocate of the potential of digitization. He holds an MBA from the University of Strathclyde and a BSc in Economics from Sultan Qaboos University.
read articleInterview
Qais bin Mohammed Al Yousef, Minister of Commerce, Industry & Investment Promotion & Former Chairman, Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Private Omani companies will be able to benefit greatly from the Fourth Industrial Revolution by enhancing their local value-added strategies and upskilling the workforce.
read articleInterview
Tahir Bin Salim Bin Abdullah Al Amri, Executive President, Central Bank of Oman (CBO)
The Central Bank of Oman's job is to ensure there is adequate liquidity in the system and that banks remain robust and resilient to meet the credit requirements of all segments without undermining financial stability.
read articleB2B
Capital markets
CMA and MSM are supporting Vision 2040 by providing financing to government companies that intend to go public, financing expansion of existing and new IPOs, and widening the investors base in Oman by enhancing and developing the investment funds and insurance industries.
read articleInterview
Khalid Al Balushi, CEO, Khazaen Economic City
International investors and business owners can benefit from Khazaen Economic City's strategic location and its close proximity to the main gateways of the country to import, process, manufacture, distribute locally, and export their goods and services.
read articleFocus: Port 4.0
Destined for greatness
Investments in world-class infrastructure have generated huge rewards for Oman. The goal now is to leverage technology as a disruptive enabler, build human capacity across the public and private logistics sectors, and drive operational efficiencies to build an integrated logistics business environment that is benchmarked against the world's best.
read articleFocus: Gap in tourism services
All bases covered
An amalgamation of local companies and unique experiences in Oman has created an original flavor that is further differentiating Oman's tourism offering from other countries and in the process attracting scores of tourists from all across the world.
read articleB2B
Engineering design
Renardet Engineering Consultants and Design Unit Engineering are recognized experts in their fields. While the former is an international company strongly committed to excellent engineering consultancy services and environmental practices, the latter is an Oman-based team of architects and engineers that incorporates local culture and traditions.
read articleB2B
Construction materials
Oman's construction sector is facing a host of challenges, but Hempel Paints and Al Maha Ceramics are confident that a mix of forward-thinking business models, unique products, and strong government initiatives will help them through turbulent times and generate positive returns in the long run.
read articleInterview
Salim Razvi, CEO, Oman Academic Accreditation Authority (OAAA)
Focusing on higher education institutional accreditation, program accreditation, and the updating and maintaining of the Oman Qualifications Framework, OAAA is helping further advance higher education in the Sultanate.
read article