Funding in place

SMN Power Holding marks financial closure for Barka II and Al Rusail power projects

SMN Power Holding Company has achieved financial closure for the Barka II and Al Rusail power projects on March 13. A syndicate of international and regional banks have committed US$800mn in funding for its operations. SMN Power is a partnership of Suez Energy Interna-tional, Mubadala Development Company, the investment and development vehicle of the Government of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi, and Oman's National Trading Company.

SMN was recently awarded the right to develop the greenfield Barka II Independent Water and Power Project (IWPP) combined with the acquisition of the privatised Al Rusail Power Company. The lending arrangements were formalised at a ceremony held at Shangri-La's Barr al Jissah Resort and Spa. Signing on behalf of SMN Power were Shankar Krishnamoorthy of Suez Energy; Maurizio La Noce, executive director (energy and industry), Mubadala Development; and A H Georgiou, managing director, National Trading Company. The syndicate of banks is led by HSBC and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, together with KBC, Calyon, Natixis, BNP Paribas, Mashreq Bank, Arab Bank, GIB, BankMuscat, National Bank of Abu Dhabi, KFW-Ipex, Bayern LB, West LB, Standard Chartered Bank and Mizuho. Local banks are contributing around a third of the total lending. Says Mario Savastano, CEO of SMN Power Holding, who is also the CEO of Al Rusail Power and SMN Barka Power Co, "We have reached the stage of putting in place all the agreements with the lenders to meet the conditions for the companies to use the funds made available by the banks. The financing will not only cover the construction of Barka II, but also the acquisition and refurbishment of Al Rusail."

In December 2006, the consortium signed a Power and Water Purchase Agreement for the development, construction and operation of Barka Phase II, to be located at Barka, as well as the acquisition of a 100 per cent participation interest in Al Rusail Power Company, a 665MW power plant owned by the Government of Oman. South Korea's Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction have begun construction work on the plant.


Oman Mobile signs roaming agreements

Oman Mobile has begun the year by signing roaming agreements with 15 new countries to increase the number of service partners to 305 internationally distinguished operators in 131 countries across the world. The roaming facility is one of the diversified innovative services provided by Oman Mobile to its 1.2mn customers in both Mada and Hayyak services. The signing of these latest roaming agreements confirms Oman Mobile's eagerness to facilitate the best and widest mobile services in the sultanate to its customers.

"In its mission to improve the services rendered to its customers, Oman Mobile is pursuing its goal to widen its roaming coverage to even more countries," says Suleiman bin Khalfan al Yahiyai, section head of international roaming. "Interna-tional roaming is one of the significant services Oman Mobile is promoting by adding various communications facets such as international MMS, which has been exclusively provided by the comp-any since last year," says Suleiman.

"Nineteen roaming service providers in 15 countries have been added to the already long list this February. The new agreements include the partnership with du of the UAE. We look forward to prov-iding roaming services to our customers in any country they have business in."

"The selection of the countries in which to have roaming service is subject to various considerations like market survey, frequency of Oman Mobile customers' visits to these countries as well as their economic and geographical significance to the sultanate. We are very proud of the fact that we cover 95 per cent of the populated area in the sultanate and also have roaming services in 131 countries through 305 business operators."


Fairmont Hotels & Resorts Signs contract with The Wave Muscat

Fairmont will manage the Golf Resort Hotel, which is scheduled to open in 2010

The Wave Muscat has recently announced its alliance with Fairmont Hotels & Resorts. The Wave is set to build four hotels, alongside an 18-hole green golf course, a 300-berth marina, and six kilometres of beach. Fairmont Hotels & Resorts has been appointed to manage the Golf Resort Hotel, which is scheduled to open in 2010. It will be located on the edge of the 800,000 square metre golf course, along with a golf and country club.

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts already operates 50 hotels in ten countries, including The Savoy in London. Says H E Abdullah Abbas Ahmed, chairman of Muscat Municipality and chairman of The Wave Muscat, "The management expertise of a world-renowned hotel brand such as Fairmont will ensure that the highest levels of service will be enjoyed."

The Wave and Fairmont share the same vision when it comes to the Golf Resort Hotel. They are striving for magnificence, keeping the design and architecture authentically local to emphasise the beauty of Oman. The venture will also provide job opportunities for Omani youth, with the hotel boasting of 300 rooms, a range of restaurants, a spa as well as other meeting facilities.

The partnership has created one strong, supportive and focused team, all working toward the same goal. Fairmont Hotels & Resorts is a prestigious body and aims to raise The Wave Muscat to a standard where it can compete at the highest level internationally.


OWSC sponsors environmental award

The award seeks to encourage eco-friendly practices

Oman Wastewater Services Company (OWSC) is sponsoring the Environmental Award of the Oman Awards for Excellence this year. This award seeks to encourage all national organisations involved in developing environmental practices and awareness programmes.

According to a press release, only those companies which are registered with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry will be entitled for this award. This sponsorship stems from the company's concern over issues related to the environment, which relates directly to the company's motto of ‘protecting the environment, serving society’.
The Oman Awards for Excellence aims at honouring and recognising local companies and organisations that achieve remarkable results in their field. This year's Awards were officially launched at a press conference at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on February 25.


Asian Paints to market products under Berger brand name

Asian Paints, one of the top ten decorative coatings companies in the world, with a turnover of US$650mn, has decided to market all its products under the Berger brand in Oman. This announcement was made during the recently held dealer meetings in Muscat and Salalah. This move is to bring in more synergy within the three group companies currently operating in the GCC. Asian Paints group is represented in the UAE and Bahrain as Berger Paints.

Though the company name remains unchanged, all the products will come under the Berger umbrella brand and this will involve changes in all the elements like can designs, dealer signages etc. The company started manufacturing oper-ations in the sultanate in March 2000 and has achieved a great deal of success in acquiring market share over the last few years. Today, the company is one of the key suppliers to the various ministries and ROP. Asian Paints (Middle East) has been able to leverage its joint venture relati-onship with one of the key players in the Oman market, the Al Hassan Group of Companies, and is firmly committed to meeting the needs of various customers in this market.


Bank Sohar elects director board

The shares of the new bank were listed on the Muscat Securities Market on March 5

The shareholders of Bank Sohar, Oman’s newest commercial bank, have elected a seven-member board of directors at an AGM held at Crowne Plaza Hotel. The newly constituted board named Sheikh Hilal al Maamari as the chairman of the bank while Dr Moha-mmed Kalmoor was named deputy chairman.

The other members on the board are Abdullah al Maamari, Hussain Shalwani, Hamed al Rawahy, Taher al Amri, and Salem al Mashaiki. The constituent general assembly also endorsed the report of the steering committee and approved the financial accounts prepared by KPMG its external auditor. The firm was appointed as the bank's auditor for another year.

The shares of Bank Sohar were listed on the Muscat Securities Market on March 5. The bank's initial public offering (IPO) of RO20mn, which concluded in January, was oversubscribed five-fold. More than 30,000 investors, comprising primarily Omani nationals and corporate entities, were allotted shares when the IPO opened for subscription between December 9 and January 7.

The constituent general assembly meeting marks a key milestone in the establishment of Bank Sohar, which has a number of leading business houses, well-known businessmen and pension fund trusts as promoters. The key promoters include Royal Court Affairs (11 per cent), Omani Investment Fund (5 per cent), Royal Office Pension Fund (3 per cent), MHD (2 per cent), Salim & Co (2 per cent), Royal Guard of Oman Pension Fund (1 per cent) and Sabco (1 per cent).

The founder-promoters submitted a formal application to the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) on August 12, 2006 for the establishment of Bank Sohar with a paid-up capital of R100mn to offer banking services and products in Oman. The promoters, who have contributed 60 per cent of this paid-up capital, spelt out the bank's corporate philosophy as a 'customer-centric' provider of integrated banking services.


Tally 9 launched in the sultanate

Tally Solutions recently launched Tally 9, the concurrent, multilingual business accounting and inventory management software in Oman. A training event for Tally resellers and partners was part of the launch, which was held at the Haffa House Hotel. Deepak Prakash, general manager, Tally Solutions, explained that the newer version of the software was geared for multi-language users, unlike the earlier version that only worked in English. Data can now be entered in English and then viewed and printed out in certain other languages. To ease migration to the new version, Tally has a Tally Value Pack offer as an upgrade to the latest version at a discount. Meanwhile, the Arabic version of the software is still being developed.

The company, which is headquartered in India, provides solutions for small and large enterprises, education and training services, and value professional services. "Value professional services provide furt-her customisation for those using Tally." Tally, a single-product, single-application company, has over two million users in over 90 countries. It has been present in the Middle East since 2005, and now plans to enter the Kuwait and Saudi Arabia markets.


milestone by Sohar Aluminium

First gas turbine thermal block and its associated generator arrive at the project site

Sohar Aluminium Power Plant project achieved a major milestone in March with the arrival of its first gas turbine thermal block and its associated generator. The gas turbine thermal block, weighing 343 tonnes and 11.1 metres long, and the 230 tonne gas turbine generator were unloaded at the Sohar Port and transpor-ted to the power plant site by special trailers. Located in the Sohar Industrial Area, the power plant will have four gas turbines and two steam turbines. Each gas turbine will produce 160MW of power. It has a total generating capacity of 1000MW.

The turnkey contractor for the power plant project is Alstom. "We can now move forward rapidly to erect all the ancillary equipment and achieve our hand-over to the aluminium smelter operations team in November this year," says Niall O'Byrne, general manager of the power plant project.

Smart Manufacturing conference to be held Access to finance is not just an Omani issue. Businesses and financial institutions around the world are having to look at ways to meet the funding needs of manufacturers. The sultanate’s government is also playing its part in supporting enterprise. Financing manufacturing is a hot topic and will be discussed by top management from GroFin Oman, National Bank of Oman, OCIPED and the Gulf Organisation for Industrial Consulting at PEIE’s annual Smart Manufacturing Conference to be held on April 15–16 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel.

“The Internet and the way global supply chains now work means manufacturers of all sizes have international opportunities, but access to the right type of finance is needed to help these firms grow,” says Mohammed al Maskari, director general, Knowledge Oasis Muscat. In this regard, one of the developments in financing Oman-based SMEs has been the launch of GroFin Oman, a business development and financing company. GroFin Oman is the fund manager of the Intilaaqah Enterprise Fund, an initiative by Shell, representing a contribution of US$10mn to the sultanate to assist in the devel-opment of SMEs.

Says Abeer Al Abduwani, country director, GroFin Oman, “Our mission is to generate returns for our investors, shareholders and employees and to create sustainable wealth, employment, economic growth and social devel-opment in the sultanate. We will realise this mission by providing vital business development assistance and appropriate finance to sustainable SMEs.”


The leadership challenge

Dr Stephen Covey was at the Madinat Souq Theatre in Dubai recently to present his latest leadership model – ‘Great Leaders, Great Teams, Great Results’. His new work focuses on the notion that great organisations are created by great leaders – leaders who can unleash the talent of their teams to create truly great results for the organisation. Every organisation and every leader aspires to greatness but why do only a few achieve it?

Says Covey, “Great leaders not only see the world differently, they do things differently.” He identifies these skills as, “the four imperatives – critical, essential functions of great leaders that inspire trust, clarify purpose, align systems and unleash the unique talents and contributions of the people on their teams.” Covey presented a vision of what it means to be a great leader and how individuals and organisations can get there.


Ghedex 2007 to be held in April

The annual Gulf higher education exhibition, Ghedex, will be held from April 16-18 at the Oman International Exhibition Centre in Muscat, and from April 21-22 at the Haffa House Expo Hall in Salalah. Ahmed Saleh Baabood, managing director, OITE, announced that Trainex, the technology education and vocational training exhibition, and Jobex, the Omanisation and job opportunities exhibition, will be held alongside.

Ghedex is organised under the auspices of the Ministry of Higher Education while Trainex and Jobex are organised under the auspices of the Ministry of Manpower. Last year, the three exhibitions attracted 15,000 visitors.

Baabood informs that over 180 universities and colleges are expected this year at Ghedex, which is supported by British Council and UNESCO. Participants from Oman include Oman Medical College, Al Zahra College for Women, Al Buraimi College and the University of Nizwa. International participants at the exhibition include the University of London, the University of Exeter, Gulf Medical College and Cyprus International University. Trainex will see participation from local, regional, international, technical and vocational training providers. Ayla Aviation Academy from Jordan and Falcon College of Hotel Management and Tourism from the UAE, as well as National Hospitality Institute and International Training and Educational Services from Oman are among participants.

Jobex will serve as a platform to recruit students and young professionals and also to showcase and promote the in-house training and career devel-opment programmes of different organisations.

More information about the events can be obtained by visiting www.ghedexoman.com; www.oite.com/trainex and www.oite.com/jobex.


BankMuscat ties up with IFC

It is the first Omani bank to join the GTF programme and is among the select few across the GCC and MENA to do so BankMuscat recently signed an agreement with International Finance Corporation, Washington (IFC-W) under its Global Trade Finance (GTF) Programme. The agreement will enable BankMuscat's customers to obtain confirmation/guarantees on letters of credit received by them for their exports to various emerging market countries such as Argentina, Armenia, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Kenya, Lebanon, Malta, Mauritania, Nigeria, Mozambique, Russia, Pakistan, Uganda and others. This facility will support efforts to export to countries with riskier credit profiles, for which confirmation/guarantees are not available from traditional banking/export guarantee channels.

Says AbdulRazak Ali Issa, chief executive, BankMuscat, "We are glad to join hands once again with the International Finance Corpo-ration in another part of our business. This agreement, we believe, will help lend momentum to our clients’ trade activities in several emerging market economies."

IFC launched its US$500mn GTF Programme in 2005 with an aim to increase developing countries' share of global trade and promote South-South flows of goods and services. The GTF Programme targets issuing banks in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Middle East and provides guarantees and pre-export cash advances to banks in over 70 countries. The GTF Programme achieved US$200mn in guarantees issued in the first eight months of its operation.

Says Bonnie L Galat, head, sales & marke-ting, Global Trade Finance Programme, IFC, "We are very pleased to have BankMuscat as a conf-irming bank in the GTF Programme. It is the first bank to join the programme from Oman and enhances our network of banks in the region. We look forward to supporting BankMuscat in its trade activity with emerging markets. The prog-ramme should enhance the bank’s flexibility to service its export clients as they expand their businesses to new or challenging developing countries." BankMuscat joins the list of nearly 100 banks across the world that are party to the programme. In 2007, the GTF programme is expected to target countries such as Angola, Rwanda, Senegal, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Belarus, Paraguay, Venezuela, El Salvador, Egypt, Jordan, Libya, Sri Lanka, Vietnam and Indonesia.


Upping the stakes

The government will increase its stake in Oman Air to 81 per cent through private placement of shares

Shareholders of the Oman Aviation Services (OAS) approved a proposal to raise the company's share capital from RO13.282mn to RO50mn by private placement of shares. The approval was taken at an extraordinary mee-ting held recently. The private placement of 36.7mn shares will increase the government's stake in the airline to 81 per cent.

"We have come a long way. But this is a significant development in the company's history since it was established in 1981," says Usama Karim al Haremi, manager, corporate communications, Oman Air. Surrounded by large carriers that primarily fly twin-aisle airplanes on long-haul routes, Oman Air has carved out a profitable niche using single-aisle airplanes to connect with a growing number of regional markets. "Oman Air's strategy was to attract business travellers using comfortable, medium-range airplanes and high frequencies. We have effectively grown since our humble beginnings. The company's objective and plan were to become the carrier of choice for business travellers." But the carrier feels that it is time to grow beyond that niche. The expansion process began with a decision to buy new Boeing 737-700s and 737-800s to replace older Airbus A310s and early 737 models. Oman Air was the first carrier to introduce the next-generation 737 in the Gulf region in 2001.

The company now plays an important role in promoting Muscat as a major aviation hub in the Middle East, through connecting it with major cities of the world. The airline operates a fleet of six next-generation 737s and four turbo-prop ATR-42 aircraft.

The carrier will add three B737-800s this year. The fleet expansion is part of Oman Air's plans to grow gradually into long-range markets. It is therefore looking at wide-bodied 737s with a capacity of 230-240 seats.


Towell feted for after sales services

Towell Auto Centre (TAC) has been adjudged the Best After Sales Mazda Distributor among 132 distributors worldwide across 141 markets. TAC says the award is recognition of its efforts to build and retain long-term customer relations. “We are glad that our endeavours have been recognised. Awards like these encourage us to achieve even higher targets and excel in performance,” says S Kasthurirengan, general manager, TAC.

This is the first time that TAC has received this award from the Japanese car manufacturer. “Our aim is not just to achieve sales targets, but also develop such a relationship with our customers that they come back to us,” says Paul Valiyaveetil, business manager, TAC.

Besides winning the award for best after sales services, TAC has also won the individual award in parts business growth. The spare parts availability at TAC is 98.2 per cent.


KOM flags off Digital Nation seminar series

Knowledge Oasis Muscat's (KOM) has flagged off its Digital Nation seminar series for this year with a seminar on the theme, ‘Your Mobile: The Next Frontier’. Held at the Crowne Plaza Muscat in March, it was attended by more than 125 special invitees from across the telecommunications and IT industries.

Inaugurating the first of the seminar series, Mohammed al Maskari, director general, KOM, remarked that the pressure on the mobile telecommunications industry to innovate has never been greater. With fierce competition and uneven growth, service providers are today facing challenges on multiple fronts. He says the new standards, services and applications that are currently being developed are expected to have a great impact on the industry in the coming years.

The interactive seminar series saw a panel discussion by Per Sjostrand from Nawras; Augusto Barcia from Hewlett Packard; Abdul Sahib from Microsoft; Mohammed al Harthy of Omania e-Commerce and Jeremy Foster from Ericsson. The session was chaired by Graham Porter from Cisco Systems. The panelists discussed the future of mobile services including the outlook for games, music and TV on wireless devices. New opportunities for service providers, the evolution of content and business models and the readiness of consumers to pay for new content on mobile phones were among the other points discussed at the seminar. KOM officials said that the goal of the seminar programme was to expose the invitees to new ideas and to connect with key thinkers in the ICT industry. The next seminar will be held on June 10 on the theme ‘Ramping Up Internet Usage: Get Online’. Log on to www.kom.om/ev.html for more details.


Flight for Sight

Blind microlight adventurer aims to raise £1mn by flying from London to Sydney

Blind adventurer Miles Hilton-Barber began his bid on March 7, 2007 to become the first blind aviator in history to fly half-way round the world, touching down in the Sultanate of Oman on March 21. During his stay in Oman, Miles made an inspirational presentation at a charity dinner organised by Standard Chartered Oman.

Miles, accompanied by his sighted friend Storm Smith, have embarked on this mission of a lifetime to raise £1mn for Standard Chartered Bank’s global community initiative, ‘Seeing is Believing’, seeking to help Vision 20:20 in eradicating preventable blindness in developing countries around the world.

Using revolutionary speech-output technology to fly the specially customised microlight plane, Miles’ journey will be completed in stages with the route following the classic London-Sydney 1919 Air Race, travelling across Europe, the Mediterranean and the Middle East, via Pakistan, India and Myanmar to Malaysia and Indonesia down to Darwin, then to Sydney. Says Richard Meddings, group finance director, Standard Chartered, “Miles embodies Standard Chartered’s values and his courage and optimism are truly inspiring. Standard Chartered is delighted that Miles and Storm are raising funds for the ‘Seeing is Believing’ campaign in their microlight adventure. Their efforts will help us in our quest to help millions of people around the globe in their fight against avoidable blindness.”

Says Ravneet Chowdhury, CEO, Standard Chartered Oman, “Standard Chartered Bank is proud to be a part of ‘Seeing is Believing’ and Miles’ visit to the sultanate showcases the bank’s commitment towards being a responsible corporate citizen globally as well as in Oman.

The aircraft, a British-built 100 HP flexwing Pegasus Mainair GT 450, is capable of cruising at 120 kilometre/h. Miles and Storm hope to undertake up to two flights a day, completing the journey in less than 55 days.


Tackling challenges

On March 21, 2007, 27 teams gathered for Oman's inaugural BG Energy Challenge – a three-day fund raising and team building event that saw the teams tackling a course through the deserts and wadis of Musanaah. To reach the start line, all teams had raised a minimum fund of RO2,000 each – and some much more – which will help the National Association for Cancer Awareness (NACA) buy a mobile unit to educate and raise awareness of the importance of cancer screening.

Says Michael Barron of BG Oman, "We are delighted with the large number of teams that entered and the enthusiasm they have shown for the event. It was both fun and hard work but worth every ounce of energy if we can help make Oman's first mobile cancer awareness unit a reality for the NACA."

Says Rob Gardner, from event organisers, Muscat Diving & Adventure Centre, "The teams had to trek and wade over 30km and go up and down 37 sand dunes and one long wadi while completing ten challenges. The finale involved raft building and belly sliding across the finish line."

The event team was along the route ensuring everyone was well hydrated and in good shape. Apart from BG Oman, other key sponsors were Oman Oasis, Al Amal Medical & Health Care Centre and Nawras.