Omran, the Omani government's tourism development and investment arm, announced on Saturday that it has obtained ISO 14001 accreditation for its Environmental Management System, an efficient framework for continual improvement of environmental performance. The ISO 14001 certificate was received by Dr. Rajiha Bint Abdul Ameer Bin Ali, minister of Tourism and the chairperson of Omran in the presence of Eng. Wael Bin Ahmed Al Lawati, Omran CEO and Ahmed Al Sabahi, Omran environmental manager. Omran is the first tourism company in the sultanate and one of the few GCC tourism companies to be awarded this certificate, to be classified as one of the environmentally responsible developers in the region. The accreditation demonstrates the company's management commitments towards environmental protection across all its running projects. The aim of ISO 14001 is to reduce the environmental footprint of a business and to decrease the pollution and waste that it produces. Created by the International Organization for Standardization it helps organisations minimize how their operations affect the environment, the ISO 14001 is an internationally accepted accreditation for environmental management systems. It applies to those environmental aspects which the organization has control over and which can be expected to have an influence. The increased awareness and participation of ISO14001 will increase communication about environmental issues inside and outside the organization and it will give people an avenue to raise environmental issues and makes it clear that environmental performance is an important part of the corporate culture. Omran has worked for more than a year to introduce the relevant levels of environmental management standards in all areas of the business. It has worked comprehensively with its own management and staff, as well as all outside contractors on its projects.
