Tuesday 26 / November / 2024
Muscat: As part of its consistent initiatives to drive up government efforts on economic diversification, Bank Sohar sponsored and participated in the OER Business Summit 2017.
The event that focused on the ‘Paradigm Shift: Thinking Beyond Oil’, was held this week at the Sheraton Oman Hotel under the auspices of Talal Al Rahbi, deputy secretary general - Supreme Council for Planning.
Representing Bank Sohar at the conference were Mustafa Ali Mukhtar, DGM & acting head Wholesale Banking, Mazin Mahmood Al Raisi, senior AGM - Marketing & Customer Experience, AbdulHafeedh Othman Al Balushi, AGM & head, Srinivasa Rao Edupalli, Unit Head – Projects & Syndication as well as other senior members of the Bank Sohar team.
Sasi Kumar highlighted the significance of the event in the light of an evolving non-oil dependent economy and Bank Sohar’s support of the government’s mandate to raise alternative revenue streams. He said, “The economic scenario is changing as Oman turns to new industrial avenues for growth, thanks to government initiatives that unlock potential from other thriving sectors such as tourism, manufacturing, fisheries and SMEs. The banking sector, in general, has been able to effectively stand up to such challenges and has continued to support the country’s economic diversification initiatives playing an important role in such evolving economic scenarios by offering resource funding. At Bank Sohar, we have offered consistent support to both public and private sectors through products that encourage diversification. Since inception, we have worked diligently on developing policies to serve a growing spate of industries, such as SMEs and government infrastructure projects. In fact, we are well recognised as a leading bank, offering to fund to large corporates operating in large-scale industrial sectors such as mining, infrastructure projects and more. Going forward, therefore, we will continue to expand our investment banking options creating growth opportunities that will benefit Oman’s economy.”
Srinivasa also participated in a discussion panel along with other experts who highlighted the topic ‘Public Private Partnership - Private sector as an equal stake partner in development’. He elaborated on the role of the banks and financial institution in facilitating national scale projects and various developmental initiatives that contribute to the growth of the economy and reduce the dependency on the oil and gas sector.
Bank Sohar continues to play a significant role in financing the development of large and medium scale projects that have become the focus of Oman’s diversification goals. The bank leverages its strong investor relations to expand investment-banking options in areas such as corporate finance and issue management. In addition, and in line with the present focus of the country, Bank Sohar is also a key stakeholder in non-oil industries that are replacing the hydrocarbon sector as Oman’s economic backbone. In addition, the bank has introduced and supported various initiatives directed at fuelling potential in burgeoning economic sectors, such as its Aafaq Al Najah brand - developed last year – solely to provide financial solutions for the SME sector.
The event discussed similar initiatives by other financial institutions and industries to an audience of over 200 top officials and decision makers from the private and public sector. Expert panellists present at the daylong summit delved into the range of initiatives that Oman’s government has spearheaded in response to the country’s new economic reality. They laid special emphasis on a varied programme and effective strategies including privatisation, public-private partnerships, and more for leveraging potential from Oman’s economic strength in non-oil sectors such as mining, manufacturing, ports, logistics and tourism.
