Knowledge Horizon celebrates its first birthday in Oman

"With centres around the Gulf and North Africa we have brought a wealth of training expertise to the market here but even so we've been delighted with the response to our courses. And it was great to mark this important anniversary with our Trainex special offers and we look forward to being able to do more of the same during the year".

Al Jasim goes on to say: "I think what people have responded to at Knowledge Horizon is the quality of our courses and it's a quality that's based on real experience across the region. Training officers, in particular, have really appreciated this at Knowledge Horizon. An important factor has also been the fact that our courses lead to meaningful qualifications from reputable bodies such as the University of Cambridge, City and Guilds, the Institute of Leadership and Management and that's just the start".

What Al Jasim finds personally and professionally rewarding is being able to provide as many people as possible with as many training opportunities as possible. "There's a real growth in training at the moment, in part powered by the economic boom in the region; in part by the entry of more global companies into the market and with them their demands for international standards and qualifications; and in part by the fact that nowadays people both expect professional development from their companies and seek it for themselves whether it's a road to promotion or a change of job, to get professional satisfaction or professional credibility. We're seeing this cut across all sectors from hospitality and tourism to IT and telecom to banking and everything in-between".

What does the future then hold for the training industry? "Well, the trends we're seeing at the moment are not going to go away," Al Jasim comments.

"I only see them intensifying. But frankly, I think an area where there's a lot of momentum at the moment is in e-Learning. Knowledge Horizon is putting a lot of effort into this and we are delighted with the way it allows us to cater more specifically to training needs. It also gives us a chance to take into account cultural and social values and this is very important. An exciting prospect in this area is quite how much we can deliver in Arabic which really does open up the training experience to many more people. Our first anniversary is certainly important to us but there are clearly many significant events ahead of us in the next year and the challenge of that is really motivating the whole Knowledge Horizon team".