Observer & Busness 24 Jun 2012 - Oman Observer

From page 1
along with an Asian woman
who was helping him in pushing
drugs among the addicts.
She was caught with heroine,
stimulants and some cash.
Meanwhile, the directorate’s
force also foiled an at-
tempt to smuggle 5,800 Tramadol
tablets through Muscat
International Airport.
One Arab passenger tried
to hide the psychotropic substances
inside his luggage and
was apprehended during a
regular check at the airport.
Legal procedures were tak-
en against the accused and were
referred to the Public Prosecution
for further investigation.
ROP calls upon citizens and
residents extend more co-operation
to address this menace
and notify policemen of any
suspicious activities by drug
dealers and users. — ONA
6 OMAN
OMAN DAILY Observer
SUNDAY, JUNE 24, 2012
Omani products on display at Salalah Tourism Festival
Trade co-operation explored
MUSCAT — Khalil bin Abdullah
al Khonji, Chairman of
Oman Chamber of Commerce
and Industry (OCCI), received
in his ofce yesterday a Dutch
trade delegation led by Henry
O.
The delegation consisted of
experts in food industries and
other related elds.
The meeting discussed
possible and available areas
of co-operation — mainly on
food industries, agriculture
and sh industries — between
the Omani and Dutch private
sectors. Al Khonji afrmed the
Sultanate’s increasing focus
on food security, highlighting
the efforts being taken in this
regard.
He explained the role of the
private sector in co-operating
and co-ordinating with the
government in this vital area,
particularly in enhancing investments
of the private sector
in the food and sh industries,
as well as promoting scientic
research in this eld.
He added that OCCI accords
great attention to food
security as specialised committees
have been formed to
discuss all relevant topics and
adopt the proposals and visions
that would promote contribution
of the private sector
in achieving food security in
co-operation with the respective
authorities.
Al Khonji pointed out the
76 drug dealers held in Muscat
potential of beneting from
the Dutch expertise in food
safety, besides supporting the
Sultanate to become a food industries
centre and beneting
from the potentials available
in the free zones in the country.
The head of the Dutch
delegation shared some experiences
and stressed the
importance of holding such
meetings to enhance co-operation.
— ONA
ROP alerts
Salalah
visitors
From page 1
They say that these two
spots are least considered in
terms of emergency medical
support as well, according to
the residents.
Kulthum al Wuhaibiya,
a teacher at an elementary
school who travels to and
fro Dhofar, says there were
incidents that people had
to travel several kilometres
before they could reach the
next hospital in Thumrait
putting life of the injured at
a stake.
The ROP mobile hospital
is equipped with most modern
medical facilities and
medical emergency response
system. The 24-bedded mobile
hospital is in perfect
condition and is divided into
several units such as operation
theatre, ICU, surgery
ward, nursing ward and
laboratory.
A dedicated team of medics
and paramedics trained
just for the purpose is accompanying
each unit. While
one has the facilities for conducting
emergency surgery,
others are not left behind but
are equipped with resuscitation
system and other medical
support systems.
This mobile medical facility
needs to be placed for
serving the society to extend
emergency medical assistance
as it can help reduce the
fatalities to a great extent. At
least until a fully edged
hospital can be established
here, a temporary medical
facility of this sort is the
need of the hour”.
MUSCAT — Majlis Addawla
has received an award
for its website for being the
best interactive platform on
Facebook at the level of the
Arab world in the “Academy
Awards” in Jordan.
A delegation led by
Saeed al Mahrooqi, Manager,
Administration of Majlis
Addawla, and members
Jalila al Jassasi, specialist,
Site Management and Asila
al Hadrami, Technical Information
Specialist, received
the accolade on behalf of the
Majlis on June 19.
The aim of the competition
among websites was to
promote creativity and reliability
on ways of interacting
with the public in the
light of the new information
technology changes within
the professional and international
standards.
Khalid bin Salim al Saidi,
Secretary General of Majlis
Addawla, thanked the efforts
of staff members for being a
part of the award, saying
“the achievement is because
of the efforts of every single
person concerned”.
By A Staff Reporter
MUSCAT — The Kenya Embassy
in Oman has launched
its Service Charter, a social
contract that binds both the
diplomatic mission and the
beneciaries of the services
in the country, towards which
each party has an obligation
and role to play henceforth.
The Charter outlines the
goals, strategic objectives, priorities
and strategies of attaining
the diplomatic mission’s
mandate of articulating and
implementing Kenya’s foreign
policy.
The Charter is guided by
the strategic plan of the embassy’s
parent Ministry and
is anchored on the ve interlinked
pillars of Kenya’s foreign
policy which includes;
economic diplomacy, cultural
By Kaushalendra Singh
SALALAH — An exhibition
of Omani products opened
at the Municipality Recreation
Centre in Salalah where
month-long Salalah Tourism
Festival (STF) is in progress.
More than 80 companies are
participating in the exhibition
with their products and services
in a pavillion dedicated
to Omani products.
The exhibition, which
opened yesterday under the
auspices of Dr Rasheed bin al
Sa al Huraibi, Chairman of
the Tender Board, is supported
by Public Establishment
for Industrial Estates (PEIE).
Al Huraibi expressed satisfaction
over the quality
of products displayed at the
exhibition and termed this
to be a very good attempt to
promote Omani products in
event like Salalah Tourism
Festival.
“This is very important
because our products are very
good in quality and stand at
par with international products
in their categories,” he said.
Hamood al Balushi, Director
for Promotion of Omani
Products said the PEIE
had been active in promoting
Omani products through
diplomacy, environmental diplomacy,
peace diplomacy and
diaspora diplomacy.
Speaking to the Observer
on the sidelines of the launch,
Yabesh O Monari (pictured),
Charge D’ Affaires, Kenya
Embassy in Muscat told: “The
launching of the Service Charter
is a signicant milestone in
the journey towards service delivery
by the Kenyan Embassy
to its clients including the
Kenyan community present in
all possible media channels
including newspapers, television
as also through conferences
and workshops. “We
already have a department
dedicated for the promotion
of Omani products and we
nd very good response from
our consumers,” he said.
The event is organised as
part of the series of Omani
Campaign 2012 exhibitions
held in the various governorates
of the Sultanate. The
exhibition seeks to inspire
citizens and residents to purchase
local products and avail
of the services, which are designed
to serve the consumers
in the best possible way.
“This will eventually have
a positive impact on the national
economy. It also attempts
to inform consumers
on the local and international
competitive capabilities of
the Omani products. “The
Omani products are displayed
for sale in this year's
participation in Salalah Tourism
Festival unlike previous
years, which were merely
promotional participations,”
said Al Balushi.
OCTAL representatives
Ahmad al Zuwameri and
Jamal Mohammed Adam
termed the participation in
the Sultanate of Oman”.
He added that the service
charter is a social contract between
the embassy and its customers
and each party has an
obligation and role to play.
“Some of the basic services
that we offer as outlined in our
service charter includes promotion
of economic diplomacy
and to this end the Embassy
will act as repertoire of knowledge
and information on trade
and investment opportunities
in the Sultanate of Oman.
In addition the Embassy
co-ordinates and facilitates
Kenyan trade missions in
the Sultanate of Oman besides
engaging in provision
of conventional consular and
immigration services including
management of diaspora
relations through arbitration
of labour disputes involving
Kenyan nationals employed in
the Omani Products Exhibition
as a “good opportunity
to let people know about our
products, as we have set very
high standards for our products
and we want everyone
know what we do.”
“Our company is growing
well and receiving good response
from local and international
markets,” they said.
The PEIE has signed an
agreement with Oman International
Trade and Exhibitions
(OITE) to organise the
Omani Products Expo as part
of the consumer exhibition in
the STF. This collaboration
seeks to achieve the aspirations
of both parties in establishing
direct links with visitors
to the festival through the
consumer exhibition at STF
and attract local and foreign
consumers.
The agreement is a continuation
of collaborations
between the PEIE and the
private institutions, which
extensively support Omani
products.
This exhibition is the
eighth of this year's series of
exhibitions of Omani products
campaign across the Sultanate.
— Picture by Hamed
al Khatiri
Majlis Addawla receives IT award for website
125 HIV-positive expatriates deported
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Signicantly, the UN report characterises
the overall HIV situation in the
Sultanate as “low-prevalence”. Between
1984, when the rst Omani HIV case was
reported, and the end of 2011, a cumulative
total of 2,164 Omani HIV cases have
been documented.
More than a third of these cases have
since died of Aids. These deaths primarily
represent cases detected in the early
stages of the epidemic before the advent
of antiretroviral treatment, the report said,
adding that a total of 1,371 cases (63.4 per
cent) were still alive as of end-2011.
While males accounted for two-thirds
(72.2 per cent) of all reported Omani HIV
cases, the remainder were females. The
large chunk of the cases (72 per cent) belonged
to the age group of 25-59 years.
Carriers in the age group of 15-24 years
accounted for 17.4 per cent of the total,
while 7.8 per cent comprised patients
younger than 15 years, the report said.
A total of 883,696 people were
tested for HIV in 2012 under an extensive
screening that covers, among other
groups, all expatriates seeking employment
or residency in the Sultanate.
While expatriates accounted for 72 per
cent of the tally, the rest comprised Omani
nationals, the report said. Screening
procedures also apply to blood donors,
ante-natal care clients, patients aficted
with tuberculosis and sexually transmitted
infections, pre-employment screening
of nationals and expatriates, pre-marital
screening, food handlers (mainly expatriates),
patients admitted to hospitals for invasive
procedures and organ transplants,
prisoners and those arrested by the police,
and others.
Since July 2009, the Ministry of
Health has also been offering HIV testing
and counselling services to all pregnant
women with the aim of preventing-mother-to-child-transmission
(PMTCT). This
has contributed to a minimisation of HIV
transmission from mother to child.
As of end 2011, there were around 661
infected cases receiving anti-retroviral
treatment at the 15 treatment sites operated
by the ministry around the Sultanate.
The report cited “important achievements
and successes” despite ongoing
“challenges” in the national response to
HIV.
“Best practices that existed prior to
2010 include free access to high-quality
anti-retroviral treatment, with good lab
support and well-trained staff, although
time from collection of sample to knowing
one’s status is long,” it said.
Kenyan Embassy launches Mission Service Charter
the host country”.
In his speech after the
launch, Monari said: “The
presence of Kenyan Embassy
in Oman is expected to foster
strong bilateral relations between
the two countries and
peoples and also serves as an
indication of strong will and
commitment to enhance strong
bilateral ties between Kenya
and Oman.
In our endeavour to promote
economic diplomacy the
Embassy will act as a source
of knowledge and information
on trade and investment
opportunities in the Sultanate
of Oman. In addition the
Embassy co-ordinates and facilitates
trade missions in the
Sultanate.
He urged all Kenyans living
in the country to register
with the Mission to offer consular
services.