The female entrepreneurs taking Oman to the world
Three Omani female entrepreneurs, Laila Said Al Harthi, Amal Abdallah Raisi, and Zuwaina Sultan Al Rashdi, are expanding Omani businesses beyond the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region.
Leila Alharthi is an artificial intelligence expert, Amal Raisi is a fashion designer, and Zuwaina Al-Rashdi runs a handicraft company.
| Leila Saeed Al-Harthi, artificial intelligence expert | an AI expert, launched her AI-powered recruitment platform, Dawam, in 2019 to address employment challenges. Despite facing cultural and time constraints, she noted that the market is now more inclined to invest in women-led businesses. Speaking at an Omani-British business forum in London, Al Harthi shared how her knowledge of Omani culture and technology helped her create a platform that respects the country’s regional differences and traditions. |
| Amal Abdallah Raisi, a fashion retailer | founded her fashion company in 2006 to bring a “piece of Oman” to clothing. Starting with outsourcing work to India, she later opened her boutique and atelier in Muscat in 2008. Her collections, which began with abayas and kaftans, now include ready-to-wear, bridal collections, and children’s clothes, available across the Gulf, including Harvey Nichols in Dubai. Raisi highlighted that Oman provided a supportive environment for her business growth, with government funding and empowerment initiatives for small and medium enterprises. You can see a collection of samples of this designer’s fashion clothes on the official website. amalalraisi.com |
| Zuwaina Sultan Al Rashdi linkedin | established World of Handicrafts in 2013 to improve the branding and representation of Omani products. Her company now operates a factory and eight branches, including one in Doha, Qatar. She collaborates with women artisans from southern Oman to preserve dying traditions and is planning to open a new branch in Saudi Arabia, with aspirations to sell her products in London. |
Vision 2040 and Cultural Shifts in Oman towards supporting working women have provided a platform for the growth of female entrepreneurs. Arwa Al Bulushi, the commercial and investment attaché at the Embassy of the Sultanate of Oman in London, emphasized that empowering women is both a social justice issue and an investment in the nation’s human capital.
Rising Number of Female Entrepreneurs in Oman reflects these positive changes. According to Muscat technology company Arishi, women registered 70% of small to medium-sized companies in Oman over the past decade. The ratio of female entrepreneurs increased from 29% in 2021 to 32% in 2022, with the percentage of female business owners reaching 6.1% in 2022, as reported by the Oman Observer.
SOURCE The female entrepreneurs taking Oman to the world (msn.com)
