Muscat, October 13, 2019: As part of its ongoing efforts to support the SME sector, Oman Arab Bank announced that it has signed a partnership agreement with Zubair Small Enterprises Center (Zubair SEC). Under the agreement, the Bank will take one of the ten Direct Support Programme (DSP) members under its wing for the duration of 2020.

The agreement was signed by Rashad Al Musafir, the CEO, on behalf of Oman Arab Bank and Hani Mohammed Al Zubair, Board Member of The Zubair Corporation, on behalf of Zubair SEC. The signing ceremony took place during the launch of the sixth edition of the Zubair SEC DSP programme, held at the Bait Al Zubair last week. The event was attended by a several members of the executive management from both parties.

Commenting on the signing ceremony, Rashad Al Musafir stated, “We have a strong interest in the small enterprise sector. We believe that it can significantly support the growth of the national economy by diversifying the country’s sources of income and providing employment opportunities for the youth. Zubair SEC has a proven track record of supporting small enterprises, providing them with advisory, administrative and financial support and guiding them on a path towards growth and success. As such, we are honoured to be in a position to support their DSP initiative. Under our agreement, the Bank will support and finance one of the members of the Programme in any way we can. Our team has extensive experience in finance and strategic management, and we aim to put this expertise to good use offering them guidance on how to enhance the performance of their company, achieve sustainable growth, and take their business to the next level.”

Mohammed Mubarak Al Hasani, Chief Communications Officer of The Zubair Corporation, on behalf of Zubair SEC said, “We are confident that our partnership with such a prestigious financial institution as Oman Arab Bank will have a positive effect on the performance of the small enterprise they will be taking under their wing over the next couple of months. Its success will mark yet another milestone in our journey towards establishing a strong base of small enterprises in the country. We would like to thank the Bank’s management for the confidence they have placed in our Centre as well as for its continued support of our initiatives. I would also like to thank them for their adoption of one of our DSP members, which in turn helps take us yet another step closer toward achieving our own goals. This partnership is also a testament to the successes that can be achieved through collaborations between leading private sector institutions and small enterprises in the local market.”

The Zubair SEC is one of the pioneers in the support and development of small enterprises, assisting them in enhancing their businesses as well as their contribution to the national economy. Since its inception in 2013, the Centre has provided advisory, administrative and financial support to hundreds of entrepreneurs, each of whom are members of the Centre. This is in addition to launching DSP, a programme that each year provides specialised advisory services, business development opportunities, facilitation of commercial contracts and financial support for ten chosen members of the Centre. The number of beneficiaries of the program has so far reached 51 members, and will be joined by a further ten under the recently launched sixth edition of the Programme.

Oman Arab Bank has a rich and proud history as one of the first financial institutions to be established in the Sultanate. Today, the Bank operates a nationwide network of 65 branches and representative offices with 152 ATMs spread across Oman. OAB provides a complete range of financial products and services for personal banking, corporate banking and investment clients.

Muscat, 20, Oct 2019:  On the eve of Omani Women’s Day, Oman Arab Bank (OAB), has launched a mentoring programme, specifically geared towards women. The launch took place as part of its Women’s Day celebration at the Fraser Suites in Muscat. The event was attended by the Guest of Honour, Ms. Randa Sadik, a Member of the Board of OAB and the Deputy CEO of Arab Bank, as well as over 200 female members of staff and senior management of the Bank. There was also a section dedicated to SMEs established by women at the event, in order to help them promote their business.

The internal women mentoring program is designed to help participants tap into latent or undiscovered talents, and hopes to overcome personal roadblocks to success. Over the course of six months, 26 mentees will be split amongst ten mentors, after being subjected to an initial training course on the ins and outs of mentoring. Mentoring relies on mutual respect and willingness to listen and learn from both mentor and mentee. Rather than a traditional teacher-student dynamic, the relationship built allows an unfettered exchange of experiences and information.

Commenting on OAB’s initiative, Asma Al Zadjali, Head of the Banking Operations Group, stated, “Trust is a very important element in anyone’s success: we need to trust our own talent and ability, and also trust the people around us to help us in achieving our goals. Mentoring builds on this trust relationship. It allows us to share the relevant development areas without the fear of being judged. This helps mentees gain confidence in their abilities and strengthen communication, which in turn leads to further career development.”

OAB has always shown strong support to talent, be it male or female and has a key objective to identify talent early and reward excellence. At the Bank women are on the board, take some of the most strategic roles in senior management and are rapidly making their way up through the ranks to take more and more senior roles. The support of talent is reflective of its own ambition as an employer to support the development of the Omani workforce.

Rashad Al Musafir, CEO of the Bank, commented on OAB’s commitment to talent, stating, “Diversity in the workplace makes good business sense. At OAB, our talent development initiatives are aimed at improving the overall output of our employees, but are also structured in a way that recognises and uplifts all talent to contribute to the overall success of the bank. Our training initiatives, including mentoring, are an extension of our strategy to support our colleagues throughout their journey at OAB.”

To evidence this even further, for its Women’s Day celebrations OAB joined forces with the Sidab Women, which is supervised by the Ministry and Social Development. The organisation seeks to empower Omani women, by establishing projects that benefit their participants. Their current project aims to reduce waste by creating bags using recycled materials.

Randa Sadik, delivered a speech on the occasion in which she said, “I’m very pleased and honoured to be here today celebrating the many achievements and successes of the Omani women and acknowledging their pivotal role and valuable contributions across the different sectors in the Sultanate.” She added, “At home and in the work place, Omani women continue to set a great example for reliability, hard work, professionalism and ambition, working side by side with men in tackling challenges and leveraging opportunities towards building the future.”

OAB, and by extension its Human Resource Division (HRD), has always placed great importance on the empowerment of women, consistently encouraging them to take on positions of greater responsibility within the Bank. They provide them with every tool and opportunity possible to do so, with this mentoring programme as only the very latest in a long line of programmes developed and organised by the Bank. Each of these training programmes have been specifically designed to augment staff skills and competencies; providing them with the tools required to grow professionally.

Furthermore, the HRD has already taken into account training for staff at all levels, right from entry level internship and orientation programmes, all the way to senior level leadership and management programmes. On a broader scale, such a wide range of training programmes also help towards enabling knowledge sharing within the financial sector of the country as a whole.

In addition to these training programmes, the HRD also readily offers its support for both external and internal programmes that celebrate and support women’s empowerment, such as this women’s day celebration.

Oman Arab Bank has a rich and proud history as one of the first financial institutions to be established in the Sultanate. Today, the bank operates a nationwide network of 65 branches and representative offices with 152 ATMs spread across Oman. OAB provides a complete range of financial products and services for personal banking, corporate banking and investment clients.

SME Financing Expert Patrick Stäuble shares his views on innovation at the second OAB Connect Forum

Muscat, October 28, 2019: On October 23, Oman Arab Bank (OAB) hosted its second-ever OAB Connect Forum. The new forum took place at the Shangri-la Barr Al Jissah Resort & Spa, and was presided over by Hani Al Zubair, OAB board member and Rashad Al Musafir, CEO of the Bank. Zürich-based Patrick Stäuble, and former Oman resident, was invited by OAB as the guest speaker for the evening. Patrick was recently selected by Forbes Magazine as one of the 30 most influential people under 30 in Europe for his innovative lending platform Teylor. The event saw the attendance of several VIP delegates, Elite and corporate banking customers, Omani business leaders and tech influencers making it the perfect platform for facilitating networking opportunities.

Commenting on the importance of the event, Rashad Al Musafir, CEO of OAB said, “The global FinTech market is projected to capture 4.7trn USD in 2025. The market offers huge opportunities not only for Oman Arab Bank but to the Omani economy and industry as a whole. In order to aid its growth, at OAB we see it as our responsibility to connect global thought leaders and industry experts with the private and public sectors in Oman.  With this in mind, we have created a knowledge-sharing environment from which we can all benefit.”

In line with its objective of adding value to the community and the banking sector, OAB, earlier this year, launched its first-ever OAB Connect Forum. The event was designed to bring international thought leaders and futurists to Oman, allowing them to share their knowledge and expertise with the public and private sectors in Oman. While the inaugural event focused on the world’s continuing trend towards increased digitalisation and taking a customer-centric approach, the new event was centred around how innovation is changing entire industries and how the attendees can be a part of that change.

Over the course of the event, Patrick Stäuble touched upon the global shift towards online banking and how this can be used to revolutionise the way financial institutions, government entities and other private sector companies interact with and support their customers. Following his talk, an open Q&A session was conducted, wherein he addressed any and all queries from the audience.

Patrick Stäuble founded his company Teylor AG in 2018 with the aim to revolutionize lending to small businesses by cutting the application processing time from 2 months to 10 minutes. Even before founding Teylor, Patrick Stäuble was already an established face in the world of mobile banking as he was formerly part of the management in Numbrs, a leading mobile banking app in Germany. His experience in the industry and the knowledge he shared at the forum will be an invaluable asset to everyone that attended,” said Rashad.

Oman Arab Bank is one of the first banks to be established in Oman, with a rich and proud history. Today, the bank operates a nationwide network of 65 branches and representative offices, and 152 ATMs spread across the Sultanate. OAB provides a complete range of financial products and services for personal banking, corporate and investment clients.

Muscat, 18 September 2019: Oman Arab Bank (OAB) recently participated in the Oman E-Commerce Conference 2019 (OEC 2019). Drawing connections between Oman’s desire to move to the next level, and the bank’s desire to foster innovation, Rashad Al Musafir, the CEO of OAB, participated in the panel discussion.

Commenting on the Bank’s participating in the event, Rashad Al Musafir said, “As one of the leading financial institutions in the country, we are very keen to participate in events and forums that highlight trends and technologies that will drive digital transformation and growth within the financial sector. We also continue to explore new opportunities to expand our ecosystems beyond financial services, ultimately contributing towards Oman’s socioeconomic development and growth.”

Hosted by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry from 16 to 17 September, and co-hosted by OMINVEST (Oman International Development and Investment Company SAOG), OEC 2019 was the largest digital event in the Middle East with its primary focus on taking ‘Everything Online’. The conference hosted a wide range of international experts and decision makers, speakers and workshops with special focus given to Digital Transformation, while also focusing on how to harness and identify the untapped potential to utilising e-commerce as a key pillar of business strategy.

A key component of the conference was a panel discussion covering several key topics such as the global impact of e-commerce, future trends, digital transformation, open banking and more. Rashad Al Musafir participated on the panel alongside several business leaders and industry experts from the region.

As part of its participation of the event, the Bank was present with a showcase stand, demonstrating its digital offering to attendees. OAB additionally highlighted the work it has been doing in bringing more traditional banking products into the future, for example, through bill-payment integration into its online and mobile banking platforms, digital charity donations, and the further rollout of contactless technology. The Bank also shared lessons learnt in the development of an enhanced branch-experience that is driven by a strong internal innovation culture.

Oman Arab Bank has a rich and proud history as one of the first financial institutions to be established in the Sultanate. Today, the Bank operates a nationwide network of 65 branches and representative offices with 152 ATMs spread across Oman. OAB provides a complete range of financial products and services for personal banking, corporate banking and investment clients.

Muscat, 01 October 2019: In line with its continued efforts to support the development of small local businesses as well as to foster long-lasting partnerships with these companies, Oman Arab Bank (OAB), on September 25, hosted its third SME Financial Management Workshop of the year, this time for SMEs operating in Suhar. In addition, OAB also hosted the final Hayakkum roadshow event at the City Centre Suhar the day after the SME Workshop, providing an ideal platform for a number of SMEs from the region to showcase their products and services. The event also included a number of fun activities for both children and adults.

Commenting on the workshop, Al Salt Al Kharusi, the Head of Corporate and Institutional Banking Group said, “Building business relationships and establishing long-lasting synergies are a key pillar of our operational strategy at OAB. This is especially true for SME as they are critical to the country’s diversification efforts. This is why we continue to host event such as these, offering them guidance and exposure whenever possible to maximise their chances for success; in turn building a close business relationship with them that will last for years to come.”

The SME Financial Management Workshop was held at the Radisson Blu Hotel and saw an attendance of over 25 entrepreneurs and staff from several SMEs operating in Batinah. As with the previous two workshops, it focused on how to manage business finances and provided SME’s with a deeper insight into the various financial products and services available to them, both from the Bank as well as from the government and other financial institutions. It also showcased how to best make use of these tools and when. The workshop was conducted by Mohammed Zadjali from the Capital Market Authority and was overseen by the Bank’s SME team.

The day following the SME Workshop, OAB hosted its fourth Hayakkum event of the year at City Centre Suhar. Throughout the event, the Bank showcased its range of products and services to the attendees while also addressing any queries they might have. The products and services on display included everything from the Bank’s Hasaad Savings Accounts, to biometric security and mobile banking. As with the previous events in Sur, Nizwa, and Salalah, OAB once again invited a number of artisans and SMEs from the region to join them at the Mall and participate in the roadshow.

Hayakkum Suhar is the fourth and final event in a series of gatherings we began just under two months ago. As with the previous three, this gathering was a family event with a number of fun activities for the entire family to enjoy, such as face painting, henna, games and spot prizes, as well as a mad science show.

“The Hayakkum events have been extremely successful with over 5,000 attendees across all four events. On behalf I would like to thank all the staff involved in its organization as well as thank all the attendees and SMEs that attended and participated in the event. We look forward to hosting many more such events in the future,” said Hilal Al Siyabi, the Head of Corporate Communication at OAB.

Oman Arab Bank is one of the first banks to be established in Oman, with a rich and proud history. Today, the bank operates a nationwide network of 65 branches and representative offices and 152 ATMs spread across the Sultanate. OAB provides a complete range of financial products and services for personal banking, corporate and investment clients.