For the past several months, I have been enjoying the opportunity to help Oman, a country in the Middle East, with the fascinating and formidable task of starting an SBA style government guaranteed lending program from scratch.  In early 2010, Oman signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with SBA agreeing that Oman and SBA would work together in developing a government guaranteed lending program designed to encourage lenders in Oman to make more loans to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).  Click here for SBA press release.  In April, I joined the SBA team helping with this project.  Here is how we started:

1. Find out what they need.  In May a delegation of lenders, government and other public and private Omani organizations interested in helping SME's came to SBA headquarters in Washington, DC to learn about SBA's programs.  They learned the basics on how SBA's lending programs worked, answered a list of questions about the purpose and goals for a guaranteed lending program targeted at SMEs, and outlined parameters for an Omani program designed to suit those needs.
2. Draft an SOP.  Based on the Omanis' decisions, and using SOP 50 10 5 (B) as a starting point, Jane Butler, of NAGGL, and I drafted an SOP and basic program documents for the Oman program.  This gave us the joyful opportunity to get rid of all parts of the SBA SOP we don't like and that didn't further the Omanis' goals. We sent these to Oman in late May for discussion and comments.  We visited Oman in June to discuss changes, get final policy decisions on some areas, and then revised the SOP and documents accordingly. The Oman SOP is now about 40 pages and covers everything from loan application through servicing, liquidation, guarantee purchase, and lender oversight. 
3. Train the Program Participants. In late July we again went to Oman and provided training on the basic program parameters and SOP governing the Oman Loan Guaranty Program to 20 individuals, including staff from lenders, Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MOCI) and the Oman Development Bank (ODB --  ODB will fill the "SBA" role in the Oman project).  Most of these individuals will be participating in a pilot of the program in Oman beginning in November.  
4. Provide Practical Insight and Training:  In September a delegation of 10 enthusiastic young Omanis from ODB and the two banks which will pilot the program in Oman came to Minneapolis for additional training.  Minneapolis has a strong SBA District Office, and is the headquarters of Wells Fargo SBA Lending, which generously volunteered to provide training and insight, along with SBA, on practical aspects of developing, implementing, and operating a government guaranteed lending program.
5. Support Them as they Implement and Pilot. The Omanis' goal is to announce the program and have a "soft launch" by mid November, in honor of the 40^th anniversary of the Sultan's reign, and begin their pilot program soon after. Our goal is to be able to do whatever we can to help. 

As usual, I learned more than I taught during this process, including that there are enthusiastic supporters of the entrepreneurial spirit and SMEs all over the world.   Three other countries, Bahrain, Qatar, and Tunisia, have signed similar MOU's with SBA and are at various stages of exploring program development.  Let the learning continue...