Ad Triumph

Asha Advertising's Subaru campaign for OTE strikes gold at the Campaign Middle East Media Planning Awards

It was celebration time at Asha Advertising and Marketing Agency as well as OTE when their advertisement for Subaru won the gold award for best use of print at the Campaign Middle East Media Planning Awards. The car ad that was subtle enough to not use a car proved its effectiveness when it took home the prize, fighting off competition from the big names in the industry, including Starcom MediaVest, Initiative and JWT. The winning idea used red-and-white traffic cones to demonstrate the 'sheer control' that Subaru provides at all times.

Asha Advertising's stroke of inspiration also owes itself to the general upswing that econo-mic activity is seeing in Oman. Says Bala Krishnan from the creative team , "It was seeing the traffic cones at all the places where const-ruction was happening that first led to the idea. And it fit in with what we wanted – something unconventional and refreshing."

Subaru's earlier campaigns have also been fairly unorthodox in the sense that they have pretty much ceased to depend on the image of a car. There has been the campaign with the dominant picture of a battery to show the essence of power, and also one where a winding road has run across the pages of a newspaper, depicting Oman's ways and the car's prowess navigating along them.

As this concept graduated, the small ad got a full-page effect, the traffic cones from top to bottom culminating in the brief copy, 'Only Subaru has the symmetrical all wheel drive system and horizontally opposed engine that ensure sheer control at all times.' Adds Rahul Mathur, who came up with the copy, "The core issue to communicate was performance. And that gave us a hook to play around with. It was easy since we were focused on one thing."

Says Ajit Singh, general manager, Asha Advertising, "It is a great achievement because we have won against the heavyweights. It shows that when a client trusts an agency here and invests in a brand, the results are fantastic."

Pacts on Rusayl and Barka power projects signed

As part of Rusayl power project privatisation, the government has sold its stake of RO50mn to the private sector

Agreements on Rusayl power station privatisation project and construction of a new power plant in the wilayat of Barka for production of electricity and water desalination (Phase II) were signed recently. H E Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki, Minister of National Economy and Deputy Chairman of the Financial Affairs and Energy Resources Council; H E Dr Khamis bin Mubarak al Alawi, Minister of Housing, Electricity and Water; and H E Mohammed bin Nasser al Khusaibi, Secretary-General of the Ministry of National Economy and board chairman of Electricity Holding Company, attended the ceremony.

Barka SMN Power Company, in which S Tractable, Mubadala and National Company for Trading are partners, won the construction contract for the new project. H E Khusaibi says privatisation of the Rusayl power station is a part of the government's policy of encouraging and increasing local and foreign investments in various economic spheres in the sultanate, including electricity and water sectors. As a part of the agreement, the government has sold its stake amounting to RO50mn in Rusayl power station to the private sector. Eight gas units operate the 668 megawatt (MW) capacity power station right now.

To meet the growing demand for power and water in the sultanate, Phase II agreement to set up Barka power station and desalination plant project was signed with the private sector at a cost of US$600mn. The construction will be carried out in two phases. During Phase I, 363MW capacity of power will be generated by May 2008. During phase II, the total power production of the plant will reach 678MW. By the commencement of the targeted commercial operation in April 2009, 26mn gallon water will be produced per day. Phase II of Barka plant for power generation and water desalination plant agreement includes Barka SMN Power Company that will put 35 per cent of its stake for public subscription within a period of four years from the agreement's signing date.

Countdown begins for International Property Exhibition

The International Property Exhibition (IPE) and Money World Exhibition will be organised on January 16-18, 2007 at the Oman International Exhibition Centre.

IPE will focus on property and real estate while Money World Exhibition will cover the investment sector. IPE, orga-nised under the auspices of Ministry of Housing, Electricity & Water, is aimed at enabling local and international suppliers of property and real estate investment opportunities and services to make direct contact with affluent Omani and resident expatriate clients who either maintain local and international property and real estate portfolios or are looking for their initial purchase. A number of exhibitors representing property developments in various parts of the world, as well as businesses related to the real estate sector, are participating in this event. Property World Middle East from the UAE has signed up as the official Middle East magazine and Business Today as the official business magazine of Oman.

As Money World is scheduled concurrently with IPE, it will form an excellent networking and marketing platform for industry professionals to share new developments, products, services as well as to meet and to make direct contact with Oman's existing and potential customers. Leading local and international banks, finance houses and corporations and insurance companies will participate.

Ernst & Young moves into new premises

Sayyid Abdullah bin Hamed al Busaidy, chairman, State Audit Institution, inaugurated the new Ernst & Young (E & Y) office in Qurm on December 12. The function was attended by E & Y's Middle East chairman, Ahmed al Aiban. The ribbon cutting ceremony was followed by a reception at InterContinental Muscat. The reception was attended by the firm's clients and corporate executives.

E & Y's decision to move into the new premises beside the Sultan Qaboos highway in Qurm was necessitated by the growth experienced by the firm in the last few years. As the largest professional services firm in Oman, E & Y has 150 people working for it presently. The firm is looking at further expansion in future. E & Y offers a host of professional services in the fields of taxation, assurance, business risk services, transaction advisory services, human capital and technology and security risk services.

Beyond Ideas

'Ideas aren't enough: Strategies and Tactics for Innovation', presented by change management specialist Dr R L Bhatia, and organised by the BEC Group, in partnership with the Sanad prog-ramme, stressed on the challenges to human resource development. To begin with, Suresh Virmani, managing director, BEC, talked about how challenging HRD was at the company level itself. The event, which was held under the auspices of H E Dr Juma bin Ali bin Juma, Minister of Manpower, included the presentation of several short films by Dr Bhatia that discussed the attitude needed to turn ideas into reality. The films elaborated on the techniques and tactics that separate 'dolphins' – people who can keep up with rapid changes in the workplace, and dinosaurs – people whose way of working is fast becoming obsolete. Films like Mind Gym and Leaders Wanted emphasised on how it took vision combined with action to change the world. Ongoing learning and development were deemed essential to face ever-evolving competition. Says Dr Bhatia, "It is not easy to achieve excellence in a changing world. But you have to choose action over worry to make a difference." Dr Bhatia and Chetan Wakalkar from the Indira Group of Institutes were felicitated by the BEC's Vision Awards.

Big potential

IFC and CBO organise workshop series on international best practices for small and medium enterprise banking

Speakers from financial institutions across the world, with successful track records in the growing field of small and medium enterprise banking, shared their experiences in Oman as part of a workshop series organised by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Central Bank of Oman (CBO). The goal was to demonstrate the benefits of investing in this segment to the managers of Oman's commercial banks, economists, finance companies, and government officials involved in the economic development of small and medium enterprises, as well as other stakeholders. Describing SME banking as a hybrid with a lot of potential, Gregory Rung, banking specialist, programme manager, Bank Advisory Programme, said it was important to set priorities right at the beginning. "Banks need to look at their strengths and weaknesses, understand the lessons from the experiences of other banks in the MENA region, and translate them into opportunities." He added that there was strong interest among bankers in the region about the subject. "We are very keen to further promote an SME business-enabling environment. We have received a lot of positive feedback here. So, this is not a one-off event."

H E Hamood Sangour al Zadjali, executive president, CBO, said that while SME financing had not been very structured in the past, a lot of initiatives were being taken in Oman to change that. "We want banks and finance companies to come up with appropriate financial packages to provide opportunities for the self-employed. Through workshops such as these, we are inviting banks and finance companies to search for and support entrepreneurs."

Sandeep Ghosh, head of Citigroup's commercial banking business in India, said it was important to think big in terms of staffing, infrastructure and systems; build a sales culture; have sound risk architecture in place; and build strategic alliances to provide value-added services. "You have to think about providing a range of services to SMEs, and not something like a plain vanilla equipment loan." It was also crucial, he added, to define target markets.

nawras milestone

Nawras has announced that it has crossed the 500,000 subscriber mark recently. The mobile telephony service provider held a party at the Crowne Plaza for management, staff, customers, distributors and the media to celebrate the milestone, which was reached in just 21 months. During the celebrations, Ross Cormack, CEO, Nawras, took time to thank his team and the people of the sultanate for their support to the company since it came into existence. "I express my sincere thanks to the people of Oman for supporting Nawras from the very beginning.”

BG Group opens office in Oman

The offices of BG Oman were officially opened in December 2006, at a ceremony presided by H E Dr Mohammed al Rumhy, Minister of Oil and Gas. BG Oman is part of UK-based gas major, BG Group, which signed an exploration and product sharing agreement in April 2006 with the government of Oman for a 100 per cent interest in and operatorship of Block 60, onshore the sultanate. The block, which covers 1500sqkm, contains the Abu Butabul gas and condensate discovery that was made in 1998. There are other exploration prospects within the block, in addition to this discovery. The BG Group will be conducting a comprehensive appraisal drilling programme to fully assess the reserve potential.

Peter Dranfield, president, BG Oman, and vice president, Middle East, announced at the ceremony that the company expects to acquire seismic data over the Abu Butabul gas and condensate prospect in January 2007, and that drilling is expected to start later in the year. The BG Energy Challenge, a fund-raising event in support of the National Association for Cancer Awareness, was also announced at the ceremony. Scheduled for March 2007, the Energy Challenge is a two-day event involving companies associated with the energy industry. As part of it, teams will be challenged to raise funds through events they will organise.

Opening new vistas

The Oman-US Free Trade Agreement conference seeks to raise awareness about emerging opportunities

Trade between the US and Oman touched US$1.26bn during the first ten months of 2006 as compared to the total trade of US$1.15bn registered in 2005. Analysts expect two-way trade to touch US$1.68bn in 2006. And this may be just the tip of the iceberg, as the Oman-US Free Trade Agreement (FTA) comes into effect during the first quarter of 2007. The FTA opens new and promising vistas for two way trade – this was the central message of the Oman-US FTA awareness conference held at the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Muscat recently.

Says H E Maqbool bin Ali Sultan, Minister of Commerce and Industry, "The sultanate has always pursued a strategy of free economy, facilitating commerce and trade. With Oman becoming a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in 2000, the sultanate's economy merged with the world economy. The Oman-US FTA is a natural progression and logical development to achieve tangible economic benefits. The FTA will upgrade the role of the private sector, merging the Omani economy with the world economy, achieving the best interests of the former. H E Shaun Donnelly, Assistant US Trade Representative for Europe and Middle East, alluded to the strong political, cultural and security ties between the two countries and hoped that the FTA would further strengthen these bonds. H E Gary A Grappo, US Ambassador to the sultanate, echoed the sentiments. "The FTA has the potential of ushering in a new era in our bilateral economic relations. Once the agreement comes into effect, 100 per cent of bilateral trade in consumer and industrial products will become duty free, as will trade in most agricultural goods." Besides doing away with tariff barriers, the agreement will provide new opportunities in services, put in place a legal framework for investment and streamline customs procedures for trade.

While there may be short-term pains, the overwhelming consensus was that the FTA holds the promise for a new era in economic relations. Speakers called upon businessmen of both countries to work towards realising the full potential of FTA.

Maersk starts weekly feeder service to Sohar

Maersk Line added its third port of call in the sultanate by starting a weekly feeder service to the Sohar port. The service was inaugurated in December after the first vessel called in November-end at the Oman International Container Terminal (OICT). The service is expected to provide services to customers in the Batinah region. Exporters and importers in the region have so far been transferring goods by road.

With this service, the shipping company will offer weekly service from 20 different locations within the Middle East. Benefits of the service would include easy and direct access to importers and exporters in and around Sohar, weekly fixed day port calls in Sohar, giving customers more reliability and distinct cost savings and shorter transit time. Maersk Line's weekly feeder service will start from Jebel Ali, move on to Port Sultan Qaboos in Muscat and Sohar port every Thursday and then back to Jebel Ali. The inauguration of the service was held at the OICT premises in the Sohar port. Reem Zawawi, chairperson of Oman International Bank and member of the board of Maersk Shipping Services, was the chief guest at the function. Dignitaries including Poul Woodall, area line and operations manager, Maersk Middle East; Soren Iversen, gene-ral manager operations, Maersk Middle East; Jamie Frater, CEO, OICT, Sohar; and Sunil Joseph, country manager, Maersk Shipping Services, attended the function. Maersk Line, which is a joint venture partner in the Port of Salalah and is engaged in oil exploration, operates through 325 offices in 125 countries utilising its fleet of 500 container vessels that make around 46,000 port calls each year.

Rolling out the Spirit of Ecstasy

The launch of the Rolls Royce Phantom in the sultanate showcases the pinnacle of automotive engineering

It is not everyday that a Rolls Royce is launched. Least of all, the model that has the greatest amount of heritage backing it up – the Phantom.

The very first Phantom to roll off the Rolls-Royce factory, then situated in Crewe, England, was in 1925. The new Phantom is the first vehicle to be built by the marque after its inception into the BMW group. With its launch in the sultanate, the Rolls-Royce Phantom is now available in all the six GCC countries.

The car is as modern a vehicle as any without losing touch with its classic heritage. “A standard feature of all Rolls Royce cars has been a front end that is slightly higher than the rear of the car. We have maintained this in the new car,” says Axel Obermueller, managing director, Rolls Royce Motor Cars Limited for Europe and the Middle East. As with all previous models, the latest car boasts of exceptional ‘waftability’ that makes the passenger feel as if the vehicle is gliding instead of being driven around – a feature that adds to the car’s already exceptional refinement. This is achieved by as much as 75 per cent of the engine’s maximum torque being achieved in as little as 1,000rpm.

“We had a customer in England who wanted the dashboard in his car to be crafted out of the oak in his garden,” says Frank Tiemann, manager, corporate communications for Europe and the Middle East.

In Oman, the price of the vehicle will depend on the level of customisation that one seeks. However, according to K S Kumar, managing director, Al Jenaibi International Automobiles, the absolutely basic model of the Phantom will cost upwards of RO150,000. “We expect to sell around to four to five units a year,” says Ahmed Suhail Bahwan, chairman, Al Jenaibi International Automobiles.

The standard version of the vehicle came out in 2003 and was subsequently followed by an extended wheelbase version. In the offing is a convertible that will be relatively more affordable according to the marque’s management. There are two experimental cars as well – the 100EX and the 101EX.

Saud Bahwan Group-SAP Arabia announce collaboration

SBG will use SAP dealer business management to support its business process transformation

The Saud Bahwan Group (SBG) has joined hands with SAP Arabia to use the latter's Dealer Business Management (DBM) application to transform its business systems in the automotive sector. The DBM solutions will support SBG to keep its information and technology systems linked, and simplify and bind purchasing processes and data exchange with suppliers. Larsen & Toubro Infotech is the implementation partner for the project along with SAP Arabia.

A senior official from SBG said that complicated after-sales services, among other processes, in the automotive division required the kind of expertise that SAP systems would provide. "We have opted for SAP solutions because the software is very reliable and user-friendly. They meet our requirements in every way." SAP DBM will be used to integrate service management across SBG's network of showrooms, service centres and parts centres across Oman for their various franchises.

Essam Enany, president, SAP Arabia, added that the deployment at SBG would dem-onstrate the strategic business value that companies could gain with SAP's integrated solutions. "We are committed to helping our customers master their unique business challenges." Anthony Clarke, SAP's director for business development in the region, added that the company aimed at providing increased customer service efficiency and return on investment to its customers across the globe. "Our development teams are looking forward to working with the implementation teams to achieve success here as well."

renaissance subsidiary signs mou

Three maritime majors have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to establish a joint venture (JV) to develop a vessel maintenance and repair facility on the Caspian Sea coast of Kazakhstan. Dubai based Nico International, a subsi-diary of the Topaz Energy and Marine Group owned by Oman based Renai-ssance Services; Almaty-based Caspian Services (CSI); and Kazmortransflot, the national marine company of Kazakhstan, signed the MoU at the Seatrade Middle East Maritime Exhibition held at the Dubai World Trade Centre in December. The facility is to be constructed on the grounds of the marine base currently under development by CSI at the port of Bautino in Kazakhstan. This multi-million state-of-the-art facility will be designed to provide both dry docking and floating repair capabilities to the full range of vessels operating in the Caspian Sea up to a maximum 60m in length and 600 tonnes. The facility will also have the capacity to dry berth eight vessels simultaneously. Nico International will develop and operate the facility on behalf of the JV.

Microsoft's mega launch

Microsoft Oman has launched Windows Vista, the 2007 Microsoft Office and Exchange Server 2007 for business customers

The Microsoft GCC region roadshow, which kicked off in Oman in December was a pointer to the increasing importance of the sultanate in the global plans of the software company. Microsoft Oman has announced the most significant product launch in the software giant's history with the business availability of the Windows Vista operating system, the 2007 Microsoft Office system and Exchange Server 2007. The three products have been designed keeping in mind the enhanced mobility nee-ded in modern business scenarios.

This was announced at a press conference by Abdullah Lootah, country manager, Microsoft Oman. Lootah said the final launch of the three major software was the result of an unprecedented collaboration between Microsoft and its customers. Real life scenarios guided product development through feedback from customers who volunteered to let Microsoft watch them work in more than one billion user sessions. During testing, customers from around the world downloaded more than five million beta versions of the three products and provided feedback and suggestions. The software has been developed for greater interoperability with software made by third parties, including would be competitors. Senior product manager Sabah Corm added that the three new products were the most tested in the software giant's history and would effectively address the concerns of its customers, both large businesses as well as small and medium sized ones. The new operating system, Windows Vista, will be faster and more efficient than the current Windows XP. New features that would particularly be appreciated by businesses include intuitive mobility enhancing ones, while home users are likely to appreciate the enhanced parental controls.

In Oman, pilot trials were held at PDO. New capabilities in Windows Vista and the 2007 Office system include significant advances in graphics and support for XML. Significant server investments make the 2007 Office system a powerful platform for developing business applications to eliminate the barriers between organisations, systems, processes and information.