Majlis Issue 11 Seite 27

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chRISToF NoTTBEck GENERaL maNaGER EURoPoLES mIddLE EaST LLc Europoles is a big manufacturer for concrete poles in Oman what would be your advice to Germans with regards to establishing a production plant in the Sultanate Europoles Middle East established its factory for pre stressed spun concrete poles in the Nizwa Industrial Estate in the year 2009 After a good start we had to live with a consolidation period before reaching the current stage of good utilization of the plant It is important to bring along some endurance when investing in Oman Partners suppliers customers and their staff are not necessarily used to a local German Manufacturer in Oman and therefore a lot of education in various aspects is required A very important success factor is a good local partner Europoles Middle East is a joint venture of the 100 Omani company RAY International and Europoles Germany The JV is based on a trustworthy foundation and the strengths of both partners complement one another What s the percentage of Omanisation in your company Are there certain strategies that you follow in order to maintain your success as you were awarded His Majesty s cup for top 5 factories for the third time in a row last year The Omanisation rate of Europoles is above 40 and many of our employees have been with us from the start of the company We support our local staff and offer career perspectives as new leading positions are usually sourced internally Furthermore we constantly send Omanis to Germany for training and also frequently bring German staff to exchange knowledge Due to the great performance of the Europoles staff we have been awarded with His Majesty s Award for the Best 5 Factories in Oman for the last 3 years What is remarkable about your bonus strategy Were there any challenges in implementing this in the company culture Our employees are participating in the company s success through a yearly bonus payment system Furthermore we have a performance based bonus system in the factory that is built on productivity figures This bonus system has been favorable for the employees as well as for the company Due to this win win situation there were no major challenges in implementing it We believe that it is important to deal with our employees in a fair way to get back great performance in exchange Could you share some of your achievements in business development over the years Europoles has established stable partnerships with many customers and contractors within the last 5 years Our product the pre stressed spun concrete pole was new to Oman in 2007 We have been able to convince customers about the advantages of this locally produced high performance product Due to this we have been able to increase our production levels by more than 200 compared to the initial production year What is your opinion on the efficiency of the logistics systems available in Oman Europoles is trying to source as much as possible from local vendors and is supporting the In Country Value Initiative of the government but still many materials have to be imported Sea freight to Oman is of big importance and Europoles is depending highly on it Just In Time deliveries are not advisable due to delays in the supply chain and therefore the material stocks need to include fairly big buffer quantities maRkUS ERIch STRohmEIER cEo SIEmENS LLc omaN How would you describe Oman s working environment Oman is a country that facilitates a very positive working environment for nationals and expatriates As a company Siemens has always integrated local employees trained them via its projects and built on such local expertise for long term success Overall Oman is an interesting steadily growing and very reliable working environment Siemens has already achieved proficient delivery of two major power plants on time were there any challenges faced by the company throughout the process If yes what were they and how did you manage to overcome them The execution challenges for such large projects are the experience and ability to deploy experienced managers and specialists Due to Siemens EPC experience and strong position in the Gulf region as a turnkey supplier of power plant solutions we have all resources available at our customers doorsteps Our teams have worked in Oman and the region before so experience and availability along with having a local company in operation is crucial Our local company in Oman Siemens LLC was a key ingredient for a quick project start up and for overcoming various challenges whether related to licenses or permits sub contracting or the employment of 55 nationals for the building and commissioning phase of the power plants Those were the first two power plants in Oman to be handed over on time thanks to high quality planning project execution and the excellent technology that Siemens provided Which sector in the Sultanate would be the focus of Siemens for the upcoming years Oman offers opportunities across all Siemens sectors Energy Industry Healthcare Infrastructure and Cities The Energy Infrastructure and Cities sectors remain the key areas for Siemens in Oman over the foreseeable future This is particularly important in light of Oman s upcoming power plant and railway projects in its different regions Siemens aims to participate in those upcoming projects with its unique energy efficient and reliable technologies and bring decades of expertise in providing mobility solutions globally What would be your advice to the German companies interested in entering the Omani market The key to success in Oman is being established and registered as a local company The formation of a wholly owned local company or joint venture with local shareholders is the first step towards becoming a long term player in the Sultanate n FOCUSFOCUS AHK Oman spoke with Europoles and Siemens two successful German companies in order to share their experiences on how they managed to increase their performance in Oman while maintaining a streamlined profit GerMan CoMPanies in oMan sUCCess stories dalia Zayed Head of Business Development and Governmental Affairs at German Industry and Commerce Office AHK Oman MAJLIs ISSUE 11 25