It is a well-known fact that the key to success,
worldwide, in the 21st century is information technology. The
effectiveness of any organisation rests on its investment in
information technology.
The Chamber of Commerce also recognises this and
has invested some of its resources in this area to provide the best
possible services and facilities to the Omani private sector. By
offering varieties of services and facilities, the chamber aims at
encouraging the Omani companies to develop and keep abreast with the
changes in the world market. We do believe that in order to compete
successfully in the world market, Omani businesses have to align their
management and infrastructure with international standards. They have
to embark on building a loyal clientele by incorporating a blend of
the latest management skills, technical know-how and matching
infrastructure.
The government of Oman has been always and still
proceeds to find best ways to encourage and promote exports, however,
with the current rapid pace of development in IT industry. We still
think that a lot must be done in order to translate government
initiatives into ground realities, both the government and private
sector establishments need to attune their technological foundations
with the best in the world.
When analyzing export markets for Omani industrial
exports, we find out that 77% of the exports are geared to GCC and
Asian markets and 13% to the USA and mostly are ready made garments
and 10% of total exports is geared to Europe and Africa . Therefore,
the need to expand further to other international markets is a
priority.
Both the government of Oman & the Oman Chamber
of Commerce are aware of the IT revolution and the importance of
E-commerce. Therefore, they are continually undertaking several steps
towards educating both investors and customers. The rise of the
information society, and growing demand for more quality products and
services in Oman, all are paving the way to better utilize E-Commerce
in Oman.
In its capacity the Oman Chamber of Commerce and
Industry is committed to help the business community to achieve its
potential and increase its preparedness for the challenges and
opportunities of globalisation and the information revolution. In this
line it is playing a pioneering role in bringing the awareness of the
importance of e-commerce and also promoting the efficient of the
e-commerce use in global markets in terms of the duration and cost
involved in settlements, and therefore, achieving maximum cost
efficiencies.
In this regard the chamber organizes targeted
educational programmes and tailor made seminars, conferences,
workshops in cooperation with global corporations, high tech
industries, as well as local IT industries, processionals to bring
about an awareness on the important use of E-commerce.
All these efforts are directed to educate &
train local companies of the new way of transforming their trade
practices into cybertrade through the application of the global
information technology network. Moreover, it also trying to keep its
employees equipped with information about the latest development in e
– commerce.
However with all the efforts undertaken by the
government & the Oman Chamber of Commerce, local companies are
still facing a number of constraints which are the results of the luck
of awareness about the benefits that e-commerce brings in and these
will be discussed later in this report.
The transformation process in this field is
expected to take time and speeding up this process is considered as a
major task that must be undertaken. And needless to say this task
requires deep thought, study and serious action in order to achieve
the proper change at the proper time. This step in my opinion will not
be easy to achieve unless we join hands with those big players in IT
and international organisations such as ITC to get their expertise in
this field.
Adoption of Internet by small & Medium –
sized enterprises to further their export efforts
1 - In Oman , the awareness for Internet technology
has caught up reasonably well in the last 3 years. However, it still
doesn’t match the International levels to use it as a tool to
further the company’s exports. The enterprises- both Medium &
Large Enterprises have adopted the technology by having their
corporate profile on the Wed. The businesses do have their web sites
on the Internet. But these are mainly confined to information
dissemination. The web sites carry details of products and services.
Also Interactivity has been stressed whereby an Organization takes the
feed back from users on the Internet through various feed back forms.
The small enterprises have also caught on by placing their small
profile on some portals, etc.
2 - There are some constraints faced by most of the
Small & Medium sized enterprises to achieve E-Commerce capability
. These are :
Education /consultancy on E-commerce
. The
awareness about the benefits of E-Commerce need to reach these
enterprises. Some of them are aware about the happenings worldwide
on the Internet scene, but they are not sure on how to go about with
E-Commerce. More seminars could be conducted to update them on the
benefits of using the emerging technologies.
Belief in Technology- Secondly , even if they
are given consultancy by the IT Companies about Transactions on the
Internet, they have to believe that they can meet success by using
this technology to further their business. Mostly, the belief "It
can happen" Is not there. IT companies educate them that they can
conduct a survey through, get into partnerships and lower their cost
for Marketing & Business operations at international levels, still
there is a general reservation on investments. Probably they are not
confident about the returns on investments also.
Investment is another constraint. Medium sized
Enterprises don’t have the capability to shift operational systems
to Technology. They need to invest well to be a part of E Commerce
mechanism where they receive orders on line from potential
buyers/partners, Maintain their Inventory on line and receive payments
through the Internet. Even if the IT companies convinces them about
the E Commerce solutions, they have Investment problems and are
hesitant to make such an Investment. They also keep waiting for
cheaper solutions and offers and delay reaping the benefit of
technology.
Current Infrastructure- Some small & Medium
sized enterprises don’t have the IT Infrastructure ready to adopt
the E Commerce Mechanism. They Further need to invest in terms of
Hardware and skilled Manpower.
Cost for Internet Usage – While the charges
for internet usage are lower in other countries, they still need to
meet the International levels in Oman. ISP in Oman can offer special
packages for economical access to Internet for individuals/
organizations. Internet Usage can be promoted to grow as it growing in
other countries.
The Hardware/computer cost also need to be
relooked into encouraging more PC owners in Oman and thus increase
the Internet Usage.
Awareness about Oman – More marketing has
to be undertaken on the Internet to create awareness about Oman.
Industrialists feel that if an importer wants to look for Textile
Industry, he would seek more information from sites/portals, which
carry information on India or Taiwan. Oman Portals/Govt. sites need
to be linked to key International sites/portals on the Internet
which receive hits from all over the world as Internet ends the
limit for physical boundaries.
Effective Response to Enquiries: some
Industries like in the Biscuit, Chips Industries feel that they can’t
compete with international brands. Also if there is a big order,
they may not be able to meet the requirements in terms of Quantity
in the specified time frame.
3 – Some of the Omani Enterprises are adjusting
their operations and supply chain Management practices to take to E
Commerce, and the only industry which has gone into Buying selling on
the interactive web sites is :
Automobile Industry- A leading organization
is soon launching a web site to buy and sell cars on line. (E
Commerce)
Other companies, which have Interactive web site,
are :
SPS- update vessel schedules daily
CBO- coming up with Dynamic Exchange Rates on
line
Omantel – coming up with on line Quiz
&declaration prizes
Al Hashar – Have a web site for Lucky draws
& promotions
Chamber of Commerce & Industry – Update
News, Business News, Circulars etc. on regular intervals .
