Oman Economic Review – July 2019

BUSINESS BRIEFS

8 July 2019

SEZAD invites Russian shipyard to invest in Duqm

During a roadshow in the Russian capital Moscow
aimed at attracting investors to Duqm, HE Yahya
bin Said al Jabri, chairman of the Special Economic
Zone Authority in Duqm (SEZAD) and of the Public
Authority for Investment Promotion and Export
Development (Ithraa), held talks with a number of
Russian government institutions and companies
encouraging them to invest in the Sultanate.

Al Jabri met with Alexei Rakhmanov, president of
the Russian United Shipbuilding Company, and
provided an overview of Duqm’s development as
a major industrial and maritime hub, anchored by
the multi-purpose Port of Duqm, world-class ship
repair yard and several mega projects. He invited
Rakhmanov to consider investing in Duqm.

The Russian United Shipbuilding Company,
established in 2007, is the largest shipbuilding
company in Russia, which has about 40
shipyards with design offices and repair yards.
It employs more than 95,000 workers. Al Jabri
discussed opportunities for cooperation with
the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), a
Russian sovereign fund that allocates 20 per cent
of its investments to projects outside Russia.
He provided an overview of the current and
future projects planned in Duqm, notably Duqm

Refinery, the Sino-Omani Industrial City, Little

India Project and so on.

Tagir Sitdekov, first deputy CEO of the fund, gave

an overview of RDIF and its investments inside

and outside Russia. He pointed out that RDIF

has joint investments in Russia in cooperation

with several GCC countries. He also stressed the

readiness of RDIF to finance Russian projects

in Duqm. Al Jabri also met with officials of

VTB Bank Group, which consists of more than

20 credit institutions and financial companies

that facilitate international partnerships and

encourage Russian companies to invest abroad.

The promotional campaign, which took place

from June 13 to 15, is part of SEZAD’s quest to

explore the Russian market and present Duqm to

the Russian business community as a promising

region offering good investment opportunities for

the Russian companies.

NBO holds on-the-job training for government

employees

National Bank of Oman (NBO) organised a first-

of-a-kind training course for selected government

sector employees in collaboration with the bank’s

key overseas partners. The week long on-the-

job (OTJ) training, which took place oversees,

focused on general finance and various aspects

of the banking sector, and was specifically

designed to give participants an insider’s view of

NBO’s operations.

Hassan Shaban, general manager - chief

government banking officer at NBO, said: “We

take it upon ourselves to train the next generation

of government leaders and we are constantly

seeking new ways of offering enriching work

experience opportunities to Omanis so we can

support them to achieve their full potential. It

gives participants a flavour of real-world banking

practices and understand the business from the

inside out.”

The OTJ course is part of NBO’s strategy to

develop the skills and further empower career

prospects of government employees, in addition

to strengthening the partnership between the

private and public sectors. By developing

employee potential through such programmes,

NBO aims to inspire local talent through exposure

to the bank’s everyday operations. Shaban

explained, “At NBO, we are committed to creating

a performance-based culture and nurturing

environment amongst employees, and the OTJ

program was designed to install similar values

amongst participants.”

The OTJ training was organised by NBO’s

Academy of Excellence and the government

banking division. The academy continues to

spearhead initiatives which include employment-

based certification courses, employee

development and skills-building,

while strengthening NBO’s position as the

“bank of choice”.