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Download a ring-back tone

Bharti Telesoft, a leading global supplier of value added services, along with its Omani partner, Mustafa Sultan Telecommun-ications, has implemented a turnkey solution for Oman Mobile to provide Caller Ring Back Tone (CRBT) services.

The service, which is called Samani, aims to enliven the caller's call experience by playing a tune or a song, music or an audio clip, instead of the usual ring tone.

The choice of a ring tone reflects the personality of the user, says Minoo Saher, group CEO of Mustafa Sultan Enterprises. Subscribing to the service is simple: customers can either use their mobile phone to call 1236 and download a ring tone of their choice; or they can log on to Oman Mobile's website, www.omanmobile.om, get the tune code and download it. The downloading charges are a nominal 50bz per minute; subscription charges are 500bz for a month.

The CRBT solution has been customised to suit the needs of Omani subscribers. The service has been launched in Arabic as well as English-language interfaces, to make the application as user-friendly as possible. A customer can choose from a repertoire of a 1,000 Arabic and Hindi songs. Says Mala Bhat, manager, value added services, Mustafa Sultan Telecommunications, There are ten categories, such as Arabic, Islamic and Hindi, from which subscribers can choose. The content is constantly updated with the latest releases and season-specific tunes.CRBT is well recognised as
a user-centric application in India and other countries in the Middle East. The service enhances the call experience of customers. Says Amer al Rawas, managing director, Oman Mobile, We are very pleased to be the first mobile operator in the sultanate to provide this service. We see it as an aid to expressing individuality.

Value added services such as SMS, MMS, chat services and downloading ring tones are the fastest-growing revenue stream for all mobile phone operators across the globe.

We are very excited about bringing CRBT to Oman with Oman Mobile. The service has enjoyed enormous success with operators throughout the Middle East and we are confident that its success will be replicated with Oman Mobile,Ó says Sabri Amireh, regional director, Middle East and Gulf, Bharti Telesoft.

Muriya Tourism pledges quality

Established in March 2006 as a joint venture between Orascom Hotels and Development and the Omani Government (Omran), Muriya Tourism Development Company is developing a novel, community-based approach, working on developing virgin land and providing an array of facilities that include real estate development, hotels, marinas and golf courses. Its fully integrated tourism development and real estate projects are progressing at a fast clip in line with shareholder expectations and Omani procedures.

As the single largest tourism development company in Oman, Muriya has a variety of projects in stunning locations including Sifah, Salalah and Al Sodah Island, with a total investment of over US$850mn.Says Cyril Piaia, CEO, Muriya, ÒThis is a new start for Muriya. The next few months will witness substantial developments. Two of our projects Ð Jebal Sifah and Salalah Beach, with a combined land bank of over 21mn sq mtrs Ð are progressing at a steady rate, and we look forward to announcing further investment opportunities shortly. In July, Muriya broke ground in Salalah by beginning inland excavation work for the marina. The next few months will witness further developments and potential investors can look forward to Muriya moving onto its next phase of implementation.Says Piaia, Muriya isfully committed to developing sustainable, multifaceted communities while developing tourism-related destinations with a diverse range of products.

Seminar series kicks off

The sultanate will need more small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to ensure that the 50,000 students who leave school every year get jobs, according to Vivek Albuquerque, chief executive of Louis Allen International.

SMEs are the heart of an economy. If the economy is to boom, you have to spend, which in turn you have to earn. To earn you need to have an enterprise or have jobs. More SMEs means more jobs.Ó Albuquerque was addressing a seminar, ÔBusiness Excellence and SMEs', held under the auspices of H E Ahmed al Dheeb, undersecretary of commerce and industry, which was organised by the Centre for Management Excellence (CME) in association with the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI).

Among those attending the event was H E Khalil al Khonji, OCCI chairman. The seminar was the first of a number of seminars in the Heartbeat Oman series, which will consider the principles of business excellence Ð notions and ideas such as: top management as role models; shared vision in the firm; working to provide customer value; adaptability; continuous learning; and corporate social responsibility.

David Hamod, president of the National US-Arab Chamber of Commerce, advised entrepreneurs to take an unconventional path, to stare failure in the eye and not to give up. Roshan Joseph AssociatesÕ Roshan Joseph said, Excellence is doing something to meet a standard so that it does not have to be done again.

Mohammed al Shoraiqi, director-general of OCCI, said that with the economy in an upward trajectory, this was the best time for Omanis to set up SMEs. ÒOCCI has a banking panel that will look at helping those in need of finance. But it is not just capital one has to work hard and have experienced people in the team, he said
Nasser al Khamisi, managing director, CME, said that in his experience, Òthere is nobody to seek advice from on how to make SMEs successful. Deputy GM, Risk, of Bank Sohar, H V Sheshadri, said banks also have an advisory role. ÒFor example, they could help with preparing balance sheets. Our bank has a SME unit.Ó The
participants expect more entrepreneurs to start new ventures in the years ahead.

BankMuscat nine-month net jumps 41%

BankMuscat reported a net profit of RO62.6mn for the nine months that ended in September, compared to a net profit of RO44.5mn reported during the same period in
2006, recording a growth of nearly 41 per cent. Net interest income increased by 23.8 per cent to RO90.5mn from RO73.1mn reported during the corresponding period in 2006, mainly driven by asset growth. Non-interest income had an impressive growth of 57.5 per cent, reaching RO34.5mn compared to RO21.9mn a year ago.

Operating expenses increased by 29.9 per cent as compared to the same period in 2006, mainly due to an increase in manpower and other administrative costs, as a result of increased business activities, expansion of business lines, and expansion of infrastructure. However, cost-to-income ratio reduced to 39.4 per cent during the nine months of 2007 as against 39.9 per cent during the same period in 2006. Impairment for credit losses was RO11.9mn as compared to RO13.8mn a year ago. Share of profit from associates increased from RO3.3mn in September 2006 to RO4.1mn in 2007 due to better performance of associates and the contribution from Mangal Keshav Holdings in India, in which the bank has a strategic 43 per cent stake.

The basic earnings per share on an annualised basis works out at 91bz for every 100bz share. The bank's net loans and advances of RO2.36bn as of September grew by 39.1 per cent compared to the position last September. Customer deposits surged 34.8 per cent from RO1.7bn as of September 2006 to RO2.27bn this September. Savings deposits registered an impressive growth of RO165mn or 44.3 per cent from RO372mn as of September 2006 to RO537mn as of September 2007.

Bank Sohar operating profit crosses RO1mn

Bank Sohar has reported an operating profit of RO1.128mn for the quarter ended September compared to an operating profit of RO455,000 achieved in the previous quarter.

The bank attributed the rise in operating profit to the increase in business volumes. It was able to increase its market share of total private sector credit to 3.15 per cent compared to a market penetration of 2.2 per cent recorded in the quarter that ended in June. In case of private-sector deposits, the bankÕs market share also went up to 4.53 per cent from 2.5 per cent achieved in June.

In view of the increased loan portfolio, the charges on account of general provision increased to RO2.72bn as of September, compared to RO1.7mn in June. As a result,
the net loss for the six-month period till September increased marginally to RO2.52mn from RO2.18mn for the quarter that ended in June.

Net loans and advances increased by 64 per cent to reach RO164mn, compared to RO100mn at the end of June. Customer deposits grew by 79 per cent, from RO117mn to RO209mn as of September. The total income consequently increased from RO1.65mn to RO4.09mn, registering an impressive growth of 147 per cent in the second quarter.

KLM to fly Muscat-Amsterdam five times a week

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has announced in a press release that from December 3 it will operate five weekly flights to Amsterdam. The flights will depart from Muscat on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday at 10.50pm and arrive in Amsterdam at 6am.

The return flight will depart at 10.05 am and arrive in Muscat at 9.35pm, giving good connectivity to Muscat with an early arrival.The flights between Muscat and Amsterdam will transit via Kuwait; KLM holds traffic rights to Kuwait with special fares in economy and business class. The flights arrive in Kuwait from Amsterdam at 5.40pm and depart for Muscat at 6.40pm. Outbound from Muscat, the flight will arrive in Kuwait at 12.10am and depart for Amsterdam at 1.30am, ensuring the KLM flight is conveniently timed for both business and family travellers to Kuwait.

Oman Mobile offers SMS for free

Stuck on the road and out of credit on your prepaid phone? Or just realised, late at night, that you have no balance on your phone and are thus unable to contact anyone in a hurry? These kinds of situations can be annoying for subscribers Ð unless they happen to be Oman Mobile Hayyak customers, the company suggested in a press release. Last week it launched its 38th value-added service.

The new 'Call Me' service, said to be the first of its kind in the sultanate, is meant to give more flexibility to prepaid subscribers. If any Hayyak subscriber is in a situation where it is necessary to establish contact with someone, they can now do so even if they have run out of credit. The service just requires the user to SMS the phone number of the person they wish to contact to 80555, and Oman Mobile will send that person an SMS asking him/her to call the customer back.

The SMS will cost the customer 10bz if there is any credit and, if there is no credit, the SMS will be sent free of charge. A customer is entitled to three such SMS per day and a maximum of nine in a week. Oman Mobile always aims to be the pioneer in introducing the most sophisticated applications and latest technology in telecommunications in the sultanate,Ó said Khalid al Kharousi, acting head of marketing and sales. ÒNow Oman Mobile presents to its customers a smart service which allows a prepaid subscriber who runs out of credit to send a request, free of charge, for call back from another party. This should help those who do not have enough credit to ask for help in case of an emergency.

ORC signs US$1.37bn financing deal
Oman Refinery Company (ORC) has signed a US$1.37bn financing agreement with local, regional and international banks. The facility repayment profile has been set for more than ten years and the first repayment is due in March 2008.

The facility will be used mainly to prepay the existing debt facilities at Sohar Refinery Company (SRC) and Oman Refinery Company (ORC), ahead of the merger of the two companies, it said in a press release. Dr Adil Abdul Aziz al Kindy, CEO of ORC, and various banks representatives signed the financing agreement. The government has decided to merge SRC with ORC to create a world-class refining company in the sultanate. The merger will be implemented by absorption of SRC by ORC, which will be renamed Oman Refineries and Petrochemicals Company (ORPC). The merger will not result in the creation of a new company, as it will be implemented by transfer of SRC's assets and liabilities to ORC.

Parallel to the merger, ORPC's shareholding will change. Following the merger, ORPC will be 75 per cent owned by the government through the Ministry of Finance, and 25 per cent by Oman Oil Company. ORC/ORPC will combine the two refineries in the sultanate, the ORC in Mina Al Fahal and the SRC in Sohar.

Crowne Plaza Muscat gets ÔWork Better Together accolade

The Crowne Plaza Muscat team recently celebrated winning the first piece of its Winning Ways Jigsaw Challenge from the InterContinental Hotels Group Worldwide (IHG), for their motivational initiative ÔWork Better TogetherÕ, it revealed in a press release.

The Winning Ways Jigsaw Challenge 2007 is an IHG global challenge whereby InterCon-tinental hotels launch initiatives to fulfil the five so-called Winning Ways: ÔDo The Right Thing, Show We Care, Aim Higher, Celebrate Difference and Work Better Together. The challenge was launched by IHG to enhance both guests experience and to ensure that IHG employees feel part of the InterContinental family.

The celebrations were held on the Grand Lawns at the Crowne Plaza, where Tony Zamora, director of operations, IHG, Oman, presented the winning jigsaw piece to David Todd, general manager of Crowne Plaza Muscat, who in turn passed the piece round the entire team.

During the event, Todd thanked the team for their efforts and dedication, saying, ÒWe are delighted to have received the first jigsaw piece for Oman. I am very proud of all our employees this has been an excellent team effort and we will now focus on gaining the remaining four pieces of the Jigsaw Challenge. Our aim is to be the first hotel in the Middle East to gain all five pieces and complete the challenge.

Todd continued that, Customer satisfaction is impossible to achieve without the assistance of our entire team. We are entirely committed to providing the highest possible service standards and by Working Better Together, we are well placed to deliver on this promise.

These internal achievements acknowledge and reinforce our strategy of continuous development and repositioning, while offering our customers an all-new hotel experience and an ideal Place To Meet.

Omasco opens new Honda showroom in Sohar

Oman Marketing and Services Co (Omasco) has recently opened its new Honda Showroom in Sohar. The new showroom is in response to customers' needs, according to a press release there is a growing demand for Honda automobiles in the sultanate. The new, spacious showroom is located on Al Bahja street. It offers the full range of Honda cars and motorcycles City, Civic, Accord, CR-V and MR-V are all on display. Currently Honda has various deals on offer on all models. For example,
anyone who prebooks the new Honda Accord 2008 (due in November) will receive a 100,000km package free.

Bank Sohar launches Excel prepaid card

Bank Sohar has launched a multifaceted prepaid card for people who are continually faced with the task of balancing limited means with manifold wants. The card is aimed at those who struggle with money management, and should help such individuals to budget for themselves and for other members of their family.Says Khalfan al Taley, deputy general manager of Retail Banking, Bank Sohar, The Bank Sohar Excel prepaid card is available at all the bank's branches. There are no security deposits and no finance charges. There is also no compulsion to open a bank account and no minimum amount that is prescribed to enable people to obtain the prepaid card. All that customers need to do is walk into a branch, obtain the welcome kit, which contains the card, pin and booklet, and activate the card. They can then begin to enjoy the benefits
By virtue of the prepaid nature of the card, spending limits are set by the amount of money the customer loads into the card. When a customer makes a purchase with the
prepaid card, the purchase amount is deducted from the balance on the card. The customer can add more funds on a regular basis, or whenever the balance runs low. For customers who have an account with Bank Sohar, reloading is easily done by transferring money directly from the account. The prepaid card is a way of carrying money with minimal risk.

There are more features that make the Excel prepaid card invaluable, added Khalfan al Taley. Customers can access the money on the card through over 480 ATMs in Oman. When travelling abroad, they can use the same card to carry money without carrying wads of notes or using a credit card all the time. The Bank Sohar Excel
prepaid card can be used like a Visa debit card. It is accepted all over the world Ð at shops, petrol stations and restaurants, and also online. Customers can draw cash at 800,000 ATMs worldwide and pay for purchases at around 21mn locations.

The safety and security features of the prepaid card begin with the fact that it is safer to carry a card than to carry cash. In the event that the card is lost or stolen, the cardholder is protected from unauthorised transactions as soon as he or she reports its loss to Bank Sohar. The bonus is that the bank will replace the card.

The Excel prepaid card is also a boon for people who are uncomfortable with the idea of revealing credit-card details while making online purchases. All prepaid card holders will receive a statement every month with details of the spending on the card. The statement is comprehensive and will provide the cardholder with all that he or she needs to know about how and where the money was spent.

Management & Control Solutions (CMCS)

In person Bassam Samman has provided project management consulting services to over 60 organisations in different sectors. The founder of Collaboration, Management & Control Solutions (CMCS) is launching a joint venture in Oman.

What are the prospects for the new venture in Oman?

The new venture is an equal partnership with Thamer al ShanfariÕs Medco Energy. Although the office will be formally inaugurated sometime next month, we have already started operations here offering our entire range of services. I strongly believe that Oman has tremendous potential with so many opportunities in sectors such as oil and gas, tourism, utilities and even transportation. Without a formal presence here we have a roster of clients that includes PDO, Oman LNG, Petrofac, BankMuscat and CCC. The contribution to our turnover is less than ten per cent from our representative in the UAE, and 50 per cent of that comes from the clients IÕve mentioned. So you can imagine the business prospects that can be tapped with a full-fledged set up. Besides, operating remotely is not the way to grow.

How necessary is project management?

Theoretically, all projects need planning. And that could include something like organising a barbecue party or building a multi-billion-dollar power plant. As projects and systems have become more complicated, the need for tools to manage risks and costs effectively right from a projectÕs initiation to its completion has become crucial. Although big corporates understand this, smaller companies are not yet open to these ideas. Change is not easy and therefore we need to educate customers on the benefits. This is where CMCS comes into the picture with its expertise.

What services will you be offering and how could they impact businesses?

CMCS is the authorised representative of Primavera, a software solution that can be coupled with our project-management services to help companies manage their risks effectively. Our solutions are based on state-of-the-art software integrated with enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications. The company's services can be utilised right from a project's initiation and planning to implementation and hand over. We are flexible enough to offer the entire package or to tailor it to suit a company's needs. Besides, we have a professional team to support training programmes.

What steps must be taken to keep risks under control?

When project implementation starts, a company can keep risks under control by responding to them when they occur, creating and implementing workarounds, implementing contingency plans, taking corrective actions, requesting additional funds, and extending the project completion date among others.

Do you see a threat from SAP or Oracle?

We have no competitors. We complement SAP rather than compete with it. SAP and Primavera are used for different applications. However, there are ways to integrate the applications and enhance the benefits for the end user.

Kris Babicci
COO, Bank Dhofar

Bank Dhofar has appointed Kris Babicci as chief operating officer with effect from Octo-ber 1. Babicci holds an MBA in international business and banking, and has also
completed leadership and management programmes at Oxford University and Harvard Business School.

We are extremely privileged to get someone of Babicci's calibre, and believe his experience and skills will make a valuable contribution to the growth of the bank as we enter a new stage of banking in Oman, said Ahmed Al Shanfari, CEO of Bank Dhofar.
He continued, Babicci has over 30 years of experience in banking and will also bring a global vision to Bank Dhofar, having worked in many countries and gained international expertise. I look forward to working with Babicci in his new capacity as we continue to implement our succession plans.

Stefan Ekman
Managed Operations Manager, GBM Oman

Gulf Business Machines (GBM) has appointed Stefan Ekman as managed operations manager for its Oman office. Ekman's appointment marks the beginning of a new department that was created to focus on customer requirements and to further reinforce the company's position in the region. GBM is the exclusive distributor of IBM
products and services in the region (excluding Saudi Arabia).

With over 19 years of experience at IBM Sweden, Ekman brings with him technical and management experience. During his career at IBM Sweden, his roles included Mainframe system programmer and application development and Mainframe team leader, and project and management roles that included managing hundreds of customers in the Nordic on all platforms including Mainframe (zOS, VM) and iSeries (OS/400), as well as Windows systems and Network.