“Grass doesn’t grow faster when you pull”
With this Arab proverb, the successful and thematically varied Hamburg Business Day can be summarized, where it became clear that above all the factors time and patience, as well as the mutual building and maintenance of confidence belong to the most important conditions for a successful commitment in Oman.
On Monday, March 29, 2010, the Hamburg Business Day Oman took place in the Hamburg Chamber of Crafts on the topic “Growing investment potential through sustainable diversification”. About 70 invited guests attended the event organized by EMA in the Chamber of Handicrafts. Even before the actual start of the lectures, there were lively discussions and conversations between the representatives from business and science who had travelled to the event.
The Hamburg Business Day was introduced by the greetings of the deputy president of EMA, Aziz Alkazaz, in which he first welcomed the attending guests and then emphasized that EMA is the medium for the promotion of European-Arab relations and especially of German-Arab relations, and that it highlighted Oman as a silent but effective player. The welcome was continued by Dr. Dietmar Buchholz of the Hamburg Chamber of Handicrafts, who reminded the guests by a quotation of the economist Adam Smith that trade and economic relations can never be one-sided, but that both sides involved benefit from trade in every respect. Senator Dr. Herlind Gundelach, from the Ministry of Science and Research, returned to the actual core topic of the event, Oman, with her words and emphasized her wish that the event serve to provide comprehensive information and exchange of experiences.
After the introductory words, the first block of lectures under the topic “Economic Relations between Oman and Germany” began with the presentations by Dr. Klaus Hachmeier (BMWI). He pointed out that German-Romanian relations have existed since 1972 and led various major projects, such as those of Ferrostaal (Essen) or the farmers Agim Oman. He stressed the fact that the German government offers foreign economic support in this field. Afterwards, Holger Köhler’s (Ociped) presentation “Opportunities for German companies in Oman” highlighted the specific hurdles to involvement in Oman, emphasizing above all the problem areas of a lack of cooperation and unclear trade patterns caused by German federalism. In addition, he pointed out the important factors of time, patience and a shared basis of trust on both sides, as well as the diverse economic opportunities in Oman. The first block of the Hamburg Business Day Oman was concluded by the speech of Volker Knauth, Euler Hermes. Here it was explained how Hermes guarantees are used to promote German exports and how small and medium-sized enterprises in particular are offered a means of protection to cover their export, commercial and credit risks. Subsequently, various specific questions could be clarified in a lively discussion, e.g. regarding the determination of risk potential in Oman or the weather conditions in this area.
After a coffee break, during which the lively discussions continued, the second block of topics “Human Development and Consulting” was introduced by Horst Häring (Managing Director Chemistry for Life Co.L.L.C.) through the success story of the German-Romanian “Joint Venture”. He gave a vivid description of how to set up a company in Oman and what problems need to be taken into account, pointing out the cross-regional difficulties involved in expanding into neighboring countries. The presentation was continued by Prof. Dr. Dr. Michael Illert (Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel) who spoke about the possible exchange relations between Germany and Oman in the medical sector. In particular, the importance of combined and coordinated training programs and exchange programs was pointed out. Before the subsequent lunch break, Gerhard Werneier (Häring Consulting) presented the possibilities of consulting by the company in the Middle East. With a quote from F.Bacon “Choosing the right time saves time” he pointed out that above all good consulting and enough time for a successful business start-up in Oman would be important. Finally, there was again a lively exchange of information during the subsequent discussion round, in which topics such as corruption, sponsoring and VISA regulations were addressed and deepened.
The last block with the topics tourism, environment and technology was started by the lecture of Jasmin Taylor (JT-Tourism). The speaker pointed out the beauty of Oman and especially highlighted the sustainability of Omani tourism. Furthermore, this country would still represent the authentic Orient and would therefore still be an insider tip, but would be on the way to becoming a trendy destination. Dr. Roman Breuer (farmer Environment Oman) presented his environmental company based in Oman and stressed that all won raw materials with the waste water purification of the oil production are originally waste products. However, the new technology makes it possible to produce a variety of products, such as clean water, salt, biomass and large quantities of purified oil. This means that the company is acting in a particularly sustainable and resource-conscious manner, as the regular process only requires an extremely low amount of energy, which is solely due to the sanitary and electrical facilities for the employees. In this way, the large-scale project of Bauer AG can be classified as almost energy-neutral and therefore particularly efficient. The last contribution of this day by attorney Lisbeth Bechtel, dealt with legal provisions, legislation in Oman and Germany, difficulties as well as innovative technologies in the field of renewable energies in Oman.
The Hamburg Business Day Oman was brought to a close by a discussion led by the moderator, Prof. Dr. Fathi Franzmathes, who thanked EMA for the excellent organization. Dr. rer.pol. Abdelmajid Layadi, Managing Director of EMA, pointed out subsequent events organized by EMA, such as the Hamburg Business Day Syria on July 6th, thus closing the Hamburg Business Day Oman, which was very informative for all participants.

From Michaela Helminger