Majid al Toky
Resident managing partner
Trowers & Hamlins, Oman

Legal eagle

Trowers & Hamlins has won the Law Firm of the Year Award 2007 by The Lawyer magazine. The growth in the firm's Middle East practice was cited as one of the key factors for the award by the jury. Says an effusive Toky, "We are very proud to win this award as the Middle East practice was one of the winning tickets for the award." The firm's international practice has grown by 66 per cent over the last year and Trowers & Hamlins practice in Dubai, Saudi Arabia and Oman have contributed hugely to this growth. "Each employee feels that he/she has individually contributed to achieve this recognition."

Fact sheet: Contributed to bagging The Law Firm of The Year Award by The Lawyer

Oman Football Team
Runner-up at the 18th Gulf Cup

Going down fighting
The Oman football team showed the world what they are made of at the 18th edition of the Gulf Cup of Nations. The team played brilliantly throughout the group stages of the tournament beating rivals. In the semi-finals against Bahrain, Bader al Maimani scored an early second half goal, which took them to the final against host UAE. It was a closely fought match, but a solitary goal put paid to their dreams of lifting the trophy. Fans, who have seen the side lose two consecutive finals, are hoping that their team is third time lucky when Oman hosts the 19th Gulf Cup in January 2009.

Scorecard: Made it to the Gulf Cup finals

Mohammed al Barwani
Chairman
MB Holding Company

Digging deep

Mohammed al Barwani's National Mining Company (NMC) is credited with carrying on Oman’s 6,000-year-old mining tradition. In May, NMC created history by becoming the first privately owned mining company to successfully start operations at the Lasail copper concentrator, processing ore from the Hatta and Shinas mines. Since then the government-owned smelter in the vicinity has been receiving a steady flow of theconcentrate. NMC has invested in several state-of-the-art facilities, including environment-friendly waste disposal mechanism. The Hatta pit is in full capacity oreproduction. Pre-stripping of the Shinas Pit is under way and ore production is likely to begin in August this year. With NMC leading the way, the sultanate's mining sector has received the much-needed fillip.

Scorecard: NMC is the first private mining company to process copper ore

Jane Jaffer
Counsellor

Reading material

"There is a lot of reading which takes place for training but not much reading happens for pleasure," says Jaffer. Taking up the gauntlet she started the 'Lets Read Campaign' along with a group of friends and Dar al Atta'a in February 2007. The group organised a 'Lets Read!' event at Jawaharat A'Shatti where children were encouraged to participate in a number of literary activities like reading, buying and selling of books. The year also saw Jaffer writing a children's book, Dana and the Dolphin. The book is set in an Omani milieu and educates children about environmental concerns like marine preservation. The illustrations for the book were by students of Muscat International School and Qurm Private School.

Fact sheet: Promotes a love for books amongst children

Samir Fancy
Chairman
Renaissance Services

Unwavering focus

He has transformed Renaissance from a local services-led business into a growing multinational. His acquisition-driven strategy has catapulted its offshore support service fleet into the ranks of the top ten service fleets in the world. The short-term income stream of the company has given way to sustainable long-term profits. Renaissance’s first three quarters of 2007 make for impressive reading – revenue grew by over 35 per cent to RO133.7mn and its market capitalisation crossed the RO200mn mark. Recognition has been quick to follow – Fancy has been selected as a finalist for the Ernst & Young Middle East Entrepreneur of the Year Awards 2007.    
Having identified oil and gas services as a strategic focus he has charted a roadmap for the divestment of the company's technology, media and training businesses. Moreover, he put market speculation to rest by stating: 'one of these divestments (probably the media business) will be completed by the end of 2007 while another one (technology) will be completed by the middle of 2008'. These divestments are sure to make Renaissance a nimble-footed player in the oil and gas services space.Scorecard
He placed on record the company's divestment strategy   

Best kept secret: While not creating shareholder value he can be caught whipping up a meal for his family and friends

Hussain al Raisi
Executive president
Al Amin Securities

The money manager

Raisi expects a 50 to 100 per cent jump in the volume of trade on MSM. The reason? Al Amin Securities recently launched an online trading platform, which has the potential to change the face of trading on MSM. The facility gives investors the convenience of trading on their own without going through a broker. It is also expected to attract investors from other GCC countries to invest on MSM and vice versa, increasing liquidity. Internet based trading will ultimately empower investors in the sultanate.

Market watch: Launched an online trading platform on MSM

Maryam al Zadjali
Chairperson
Dar al Atta'a

Touching lives

Started informally by a group of like-minded friends in 2002, Dar al Atta'a has grown into a leading philanthropy organisation in the sultanate. The organisation was given official recognition in October 2007. Zadjali has been leading a dedicated group of volunteers to provide destitute families basic necessities such as clothing, food and housing. They visit hospitals to help children and parents in their time of need and also help underprivileged children with meals, school supplies and uniforms. The organisation was at the forefront of charitable work after Cyclone Gonu, lending a helping hand.

Scorecard: She was on the front line, leading relief operations after Cyclone Gonu

Salem al Ismaily
CEO
OCIPED

Ties that bond

Thanks to the efforts of Salem al Ismaily, CEO of OCIPED, Oman participated in the Global Competitiveness Report 2007-08 by World Economic Forum (WEF).  Oman was unable to do so earlier due to difficulty in obtaining data, the figures were either insufficient or inaccurate. Ismaily helped to generate over 400 responses, which helped Oman get ranked as the 42nd most competitive economy among 130 nations. He was also recognised for his efforts in strengthening Japan-Oman ties, with Japan's minister of foreign affairs felicitating him with a certificate of commendation. Ismaily had helped establish the Oman JICA Alumni Association, where as the founding president, he organised a number cultural events, seminars and orientation programmes.

Scorecard: Got Oman into WEF's Global Competitiveness Report

Tariq al Barwani
Online manager
Nawras

Technical wizard

Barwani's list of achievements is pretty impressive – he was chosen as Microsoft's most valuable professional (MVP) in March 2007 and flew to Redmond, the company's headquarters in the US to accept the award from Bill Gates, its chief software architect. He is proficient in artificial intelligence, software development, mobile devices computing, rational database management system, electronic commerce and Internet security. More than his personal achievements he deserves kudos for promoting the cause of IT literacy in the sultanate. Barwani is involved with consultancy, teaching, TV and radio programmes and writing articles on information technology. The man has done his bit in putting Oman on the world's IT map.

Merit list: Chosen as the most valuable professional by Microsoft

Amer al Rawas
Managing director
Oman Mobile

Always connected

Under Dr Amer al Rawas, Oman Mobile has continuously endeavoured to improve customer experience and satisfaction. The mobile operator enabled people to stay in touch during the Gonu crisis, alerting them with regular SMSs and providing free credit. At last count, Oman Mobile had 38 value-added services, a testimony to the efforts to make consumers' lives easy. Under Rawas, the operator has introduced sophisticated applications in mobile telecommunication like the BlackBerry service. The service is popular among business executives who need to access their e-mails, calendars and other data on the go. Another popular service introduced this year is the ‘Call Me Back’ for prepaid subscribers. It allows a subscriber who runs out of credit to send a request, free of charge, for call back from another party, helping those without enough credit to seek help in case of an emergency. Oman Mobile is gearing up to offer 3G services to the entire sultanate in the first quarter.

Scorecard: Brought Blackberry service to the country