BankMuscat gears up for the future

The bank, which posted net profit's of RO 45.4 million for the year ended 31 December 2005, (subject to regulatory and shareholder approvals) has just concluded its first International Manager's workshop in the capital region.

Members of the senior management of BankMuscat International (Bahrain), Centurion Bank of Punjab (India), BankMuscat Dubai Representative office and a team from the soon to be opened BankMuscat operations in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia joined a team of professionals from the BankMuscat offices in Oman to deliberate on how the entities could join hands to take the fullest advantage of synergies between them.

The three-day workshop also focussed on emerging opportunities across the GCC region and India.
The bank has also recently appointed the $3.5 billion global strategy consulting firm, Booz Allen Hamilton to explore how it can focus greater energies on key and emerging customer segments in Oman and across the region. It is understood that this may result in significant restructuring in senior management portfolios within the organization so as to ensure that the bank has its best resources heading key business positions. This is further expected to help the bank better align itself with its future growth strategy, an imperative to its realizing its local and regional ambitions. BankMuscat has time and again re-affirmed that it is committed to becoming one of the leading banks across the GCC region by the turn of the decade.

With the country having completed its FTA with the United States of America and the year 2006 being referred to as a watershed year before the formal onset of the WTO agreement, industry experts opine the year ahead will see much activity in the banking sector with leading Omani institutions continuing to look beyond the nation's borders and establishing a growing regional presence, even as they consolidate at home.