oer__sep2012 by oeronline emagazine

No 146 September 2012

EDITOR’SDESK

EDITORIAL Editor-in-chief HH Sayyid Tarik Bin Shabib Group Editor Mayank Singh Deputy Editor Visvas Paul D Karra Senior Sub Editor Muhammed Nafie DESIGN Senior Art Director Sandesh S. Rangnekar Senior Designer M. Balagopalan Senior Photographer Rajesh Burman Photographer Basim Al Maharbi Cover concept Chanjeet Singh Production Manager Govindaraj Ramesh MARKETING Business Head Jacob George Advertising Manager Arif Abdul Bari Senior Business Support Executive Radha Kumar CORPORATE Chief Executive Sandeep Sehgal Executive Vice President Alpana Roy Distribution United Media Services LLC OER PRESENTATION

Published by United Press & Publishing LLC PO Box 3305, Ruwi, Postal Code - 112 Muscat, Sultanate of Oman Tel: (968) 24700896, Fax: (968) 24707939 Email: publish@umsoman.com Website: www.umsoman.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the publisher. The publisher does not accept responsibility for any loss occasioned to any person or organisation acting or refraining as a result of material in this publication. OER accepts no responsibility for advertising content.

Outside to inside

rystal gazing in the field of IT can be a bit foolhardy, as its landscape changes rapidly. Undeterred, I am putting out a set of trends that are likely to dominate the IT landscape over the next few years.

z Cloud computing: There are essentially three types of clouds; the full Internet cloud or public cloud, the private cloud, and the hybrid cloud – a mix of public and private clouds. Cloud computing is picking up steam and is here to stay, thanks to its competitive pricing and the ease it offers z Big Data: Big Data is about bringing together structured internal data that your company has always used and mixing it with unstructured public data like social media streams and freely available government data. The combination of these two types of data can throw up new insights and that’s why Big Data is such a big deal z Social Media: People all over the world are using social networks and social media-based services to stay in touch, communicate, and collaborate. Companies that wish to remain relevant in future need to devise ways to harness the potential of social media z Consumerisation of IT: Consumers are setting the pace for innovation in technology. As a result enterprises which don’t steadily consumerise their application portfolios will find a lower level of adoption and usage z PC/Mobile convergence: Mobile devices like smart phones and tablets are able to do the tasks of a full PC. Still, there are times when workers can be more productive by working with a full keyboard and mouse. And that’s the reason why the lines between traditional PCs and mobile devices continue to blur OER’s cover story on IT usage shows how Oman is adopting these trends, while some of these may be in their infancy others are fairly well entrenched. Plus, it also has an opportunity to leapfrog other countries both in the region and internationally.

Copyright © 2012 United Press & Publishing LLC Printed by Oman Printers Correspondence should be sent to: Oman Economic Review United Media Services PO Box 3305, Ruwi 112, Sultanate of Oman Fax: (968)24707939 Email: editor@oeronline.com Website: www.oeronline.com

September 2012

To read, click on link at: www.oeronline.com

PUBLICATION

Progress 2012-2013 hits the stands United Media Services (UMS) has published the 18th edition of its annual bilingual publication Progress 2012-2013 saluting His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said on the occasion of the 42nd anniversary of Oman’s Blessed Renaissance. The latest edition of Progress was unveiled by HE Ahmed Bin Nasser Bin Hamed Al Mahrizi, Minister of Tourism recently. Also present on the occasion were Sandeep Sehgal, chief executive, UMS; Alpana Roy, executive vice president, UMS and members of the editorial team. Progress takes an in-depth look at the various sectors that have contributed to the Sultanate’s development and modernisation with a human touch. The annual country book stands out for its exhaustive analysis of various sectors such as oil & gas, banking, NBFCs and insurance, capital markets, education, healthcare, agriculture, retailing, aviation, telecom, information and communication

Winners all The 2012 edition of Jawharat Oman showcases a new set of 41 super achievers who have performed par excellence in their respective fields

HE Ahmed and Sandeep Sehgal, CEO UMS unveiling Prgress 2012 technology, real estate, manufacturing, power, infrastructure, tourism etc. Each of these sectors is covered in dedicated chapters highlighting the strides taken by the Sultanate in these areas. Progress, the first annual country book in the Sultanate to go online,

he Sultanate of Oman has been a land of amazing natural beauty, rich history and culture and above all, a friendly society with people of great talent. Today, there’s an entire generation of Omanis for whom the word ‘impossible’ simply does not exist. They are the ‘Jewels’ – a cut above the rest – who’ve gone the distance to achieve their dreams and ambitions. Last year, Jawharat Oman (JO) profiled 40 super achievers who have been front-runners in their respective domains; whether they were scientists with ground-breaking research or sports persons who reached the pinnacle of success. This year again, we went in search for the most inspiring stories and compiled a new edition with 41 super achievers. Sports, science, arts, fashion, technology – there are super achievers in every possible sphere and JO has brought the stories of these people at the forefront. The edition tracks the success journey of each of these achievers, the efforts they have taken to reach the pinnacle

September 2012

is available in a digital version on www.progressoman.com. The digital version offers readers online access to a more comprehensive range of articles than the print edition. It will serve as a one-stop reference point for people seeking information on Oman’s remarkable journey over the last 42 years.

of success, the diﬃculties that they faced and the vision to shape their laurels. It explores the qualities which have made them stand out. The 2012 edition of JO is published by United Media Services (UMS). According to Alpana Roy, executive vice president, UMS, “Jawharat Oman is truly a one-of-a-kind publication and with the second edition I hope that it continues to serve as an inspiration to all Omanis and drives them to work towards their goals. In a world of triumphs, the ones that are shared with others hold much meaning and I have no doubt that each personal story will serve to further strengthen readers’ resolves and foster more inspiration in them.” “It is also pertinent to bring to the fore the organisations who have been a part of this unique and compelling publication. Their unwavering support, right from the start, truly demonstrates their encouragement to these Jewels of Oman.”

EVENT

AL Mar'a Excellence Awards 2012 announced The Al Mar’a Excellence Awards – a true platform to honour, felicitate and commend Omani women from different walks of life got off to a glittering start last year. Exemplifying what the No 1 women’s magazine in the Sultanate stands for – different shades of a woman – the Awards were successful in bringing to the limelight the efforts of Omani women and recognising them for their achievements. The Al Mar’a Excellence Awards 2012 will continue in the same style, though in a wider and bigger format. It’s once again time for us to celebrate the women who have not only dared to dream but gone that extra mile to prove their commitment towards serving and enriching their communities and the nation at large. The Awards once again celebrates the ‘different shades’ and ranges across 12 categories, namely: corporate leadership, fashion design, performing arts, fine arts, educational services, entrepreneurship and innovation,

examples of change in society, please fill up the nomination forms available online at www.almaraonline.com Winners will be announced at a redcarpet event scheduled for Sunday, October 7 at Crowne Plaza Muscat Gardens.

health services, science and industry, technology, sports, petroleum services and social responsibility. Apart from these, two women will also be the recipients of the prestigious Woman of the Year and Most Promising Woman of the Year Awards. The Awards will judge women on the basis of criteria like innovation and creativity, the impact of their contributions on society, leadership abilities and the goals achieved. The final ranking process will be appraised by our oﬃcial auditing partners, Ernst & Young. If you wish to nominate yourself or someone who you think are powerful

“The first edition of the Al Mar’a Excellence Awards was the first-of-itskind and a huge success. With more and more Omani women blazing trails in the fields of their choice, the second edition, we are sure, will bring to the forefront new names that need to be recognised and awarded. We are looking at intense competition in all the categories and may the best women win,” said Alpana Roy, executive vice-president, United Media Services – Publishers of Al Mar’a magazine. The Al Mar’a Excellence Awards is an Al Mar’a Initiative. Oﬃcial Auditing Partners: Ernst & Young. Strategic Partner: Audi. Support Partner: Jotun Paints. Media Partners: Times of Oman & Al Shabiba.

MAIL worthwhile and interesting to observe how the merged entity will operate in the country. With HSBC stepping in with its rich history of being the oldest international bank in Oman, things should get going on the upswing.

BEST OF BOTH WORLDS HSBC Bank Oman CEO, Ewan Stirling, has spoken about integration process of HSBC and Oman International Bank in the Face2Face column. It would be

September 2012

We hope that the loyal customers of OIB will continue to enjoy the benefits and services under an HSBC led management. This will be like having the cake and eating it too and it will really be a boon to customers of both banks as OIB has an extensive network across the country. Indeed it seems to be a mouth water proposition wherein the new merged entity will be able to provide best products for the local market and the best of international products and services. Ajay Chari, Al Khuwair

NEW REVENUE STREAM The health column titled ‘The necessity of Developing Patients Skills’ presents a whole new picture of medical tourism. It is interesting to note that there are hundreds of thousands of couples and families who put off travel plans because of reasons which in medical terms are minor. As the author has pointed out, the GCC countries are well suited to attract visitors with medical care needs but this industry really needs to be developed in a holistic manner. I think it is high time the government and private sector jointly explored this sector and generated non-oil revenues. Turki Rahbi, Seeb Write to us with your comments/ feedback at: editor@oeronline.com

INSIDE

IN THE NEWS

FACE2FACE

BRIDGING THE GAP BETWEEN EDUCATION AND JOB REQUIREMENTS Preliminary results of largest workplace study, QuduratTM says that despite ongoing efforts, Omanis continue to report lower levels of work engagement

54 INTERVIEW

FOCUSED, HANDSON INVESTOR

A PARADIGM SHIFT

Al Anwar Holdings is proud of what it has achieved during the last year and looks forward to a promising future. At the same time, the company keeps its eyes set on the tasks and goals ahead

Burkhard P Varnholt, Chief Investment OďŹ&#x192;cer, Bank Sarasin & Co talks about the rise of a new economic order and how to negotiate this change

46 AUTOMOTIVE

STRONG PERFORMANCE The newly launched Phantom Series II has subtle visual refreshments with extensive technology upgradee

30 COVER STORY

On the Information Superhighway

September 2012

INSIDE

58 ECONOMY

OIL REVENUES SET TO REINVIGORATE PRIVATE SECTOR The enhancement of the private sectorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s role as well as increasing education and skills levels can be fuelled by the hydrocarbons sector for some time to come

61 GOLF EVENT

PRO-ACTION TIME! Muscat Hills Golf & Country Club, Oman, and BankDhofar are all set to host the 1st Pro-Am Golf Tournament in the Sultanate

BEYOND BOARDROOMS

GIVING A CUTTING EDGE

TOURISM

FELICITATING EXCELLENCE

Alok Ranjan Varma, General Manager of Assarain Concrete Products & Trading, created razor sharp competitive advantage for his company to differentiate itself in a highly crowded market

Graham Flannery, Director Business Development, Travelex Europe and Middle East speaks about the forthcoming Travelex Oman Tourism Ambassador Awards

Editorial

Publication

Event

Economy Watch

Business Briefs

Periscope

Close Up

By Invitation

Environment

Autotalk

Autonews

Billboard

Market Watch

Gizmos

Browsing Corner

70 CARTOON CORNER

September 2012

By Kannan Murali

ECONOMYWATCH

Raking it in According to Deloitte’s Annual Review of Football Finance 2012 research report, there seems to be a tenuous correlation between wages and sporting performance Comparison of total wages with final position in Premier League 2010/11 £0m £25m

Blackpool

Wolverhampton Stoke West Bromwich Wanderers Blackburn Albion City Rovers Wigan Sunderland West Ham Athletic United Newcastle Bolton United Wanderers

£50m

Total wage cost

Lower wage costs Higher sporting performance

Mean 10.5

£75m £100m

Tottenham Hotspur

Mean £79.9m

Aston Villa

£125m

Manchester United

Arsenal Liverpool

£150m

Manchester City

£175m £200m

Higher wage costs Lower sporting performance

Chelsea

10 Final League Position

Relevant financial data for 2010/11 was not available for Birmingham City who finished in 18th position. Size of football indicates relative revenue.

Revenues of world’s biggest football clubs Position (prior year position)

Club

2010/11 Revenue (US$)

Position (prior year position)

2010/11 Revenue (US$)

Club

1 (1)

Real Madrid

695.2

11 (12)

Tottenham Hotspur

262.5

2 (2)

FC Barcelona

653.4

12 (11)

Manchester City

246.0

3 (3)

Manchester United

532.0

13 (10)

Juventus

223.2

4 (4)

Bayern Munich

466.1

14 (15)

Olympique de Marseille

218.0

5 (5)

Arsenal

364.1

15 (18)

AS Roma

208.1

6 (6)

Chelsea

362.2

16 (n/a)

Borussia Dortmund

200.8

7 (7)

AC Milan

340.8

17 (14)

Olympique Lyonnais

192.5

8 (9)

Internazionale

306.5

18 (13)

Hamburger SV

186.7

9 (8)

Liverpool

294.8

19 (n/a)

Valencia

169.4

Schalke 04

293.5

20 (n/a)

Napoli

10 (16)

166.6 Source: Deloitte Football Money League 2012

September 2012

BUSINESS BRIEFS

TOPAZ SIGNS NEW CHARTERS WORTH $65MN Renaissance subsidiary, Topaz Energy and Marine (Topaz), a UAEbased oil field services company, has been awarded two new long term charters, totalling over $65mn, in the GCC and the Caspian Sea, two of the company’s major operating areas. It also confirms the acquisition of Topaz Rayyan and Caspian Reliance, two Anchor Handling Tug Supply Vessel (AHTS). Topaz Rayyan will be deployed in Qatar on a seven-year, $50mn charter, for an international oil company. The vessel was built in 2006 and was previously owned by Sanko Steamship Co in Japan. The second AHTS, Caspian Reliance, is to be deployed in the Caspian Sea with a firm contract value of $13.9mn. It is a new, untraded vessel formerly owned by Boluda. The vessels are 100-T DP-2 Anchor Handling Tug Supply Vessels (AHTS) and both will undergo a $2mn upgrade to meet client-specific requirements. Advanced DP-2 is a standard required increasingly by IOCs, which allows vessels to remain accurately in position for long durations. Roy Donaldson, COO of Topaz Marine & Energy says, “The addition of these two vessels increases the number of more technologically advanced DP-2 vessels in our fleet. Our strategic focus on modern technology ensures our vessels meet the standards required increasingly by our international oil clients. These acquisitions ensure that Topaz’s fleet remains one of the youngest.”

NAWRAS GOODWILL JOURNEY TOUCHES LIVES OF OVER 7000 INDIVIDUALS, FAMILIES

Nawras has reached out to more than 7,000 individuals and families through its Goodwill Journey since it first began in 2005. Over the past eight years, fasting volunteers of the Nawras Goodwill Journey have visited over 150 charitable organisations and non-Government organisations in the Sultanate and travelled over 48,000 kms to bring joy to the people of Oman during the holy month of Ramadhan. Commenting on the caring initiative, Saleh bin Nasser Al-Riyami, Nawras board director, says, “The Nawras Goodwill Journey is the cornerstone of the company’s corporate social responsibility programme. It is the first initiative of its kind, which aims to spread smiles across the country year after year. Our contributions support charitable associations in their valued work.”

NBO IFTAR SA’IM ROAD TRIPS CONCLUDE IN SALALAH

QUICKLOOK

National Bank of Oman’s (NBO) Employee Volunteers continued to spread joy among families in the different regions of the Sultanate by distributing Iftar Sa’im boxes to the needy during their trip in Salalah. This final NBO “A’ Rahma Iftar Sa’im Road Trip” in Salalah, was led by Abdul Qadir Ahmed, NBO’s assistant general manager- branch sales and distribution, assisted by Hassan Kashoub, NBO’s regional manager, all NBO Salalah branch managers and their teams. The goodwill trip started at Al Sa’ada in Salalah, where NBO Employee Volunteers visited a number of houses and spent time with the needy families, listening to their daily challenges and spreading happiness among all. The trip thereafter moved towards to Mirbat, and then onto Al Hafa and eventually concluded in Taqa.

Travelex Ambassador Awards in Nov The Travelex Ambassador Award Ceremony, a black tie event is to be held in November. The call for entries will take place this month, which will leave enough time for the panel of judges to assess and critique the finalists. The award ceremony will cater to 200 standing guests at what is to become an annual event of acknowledgement and success of ‘Ambassadors” for tourism in Oman. The awards are open for nominations.

September 2012

Smartphones will influence retail store sales Smartphones currently influence 5.1 percent of annual retail store sales, translating into $159bn in forecasted sales for 2012, according to new Deloitte research. For the first time in the industry, the in-depth study measures the ‘mobile influence factor’. Deloitte anticipates mobile’s influence, based on consumers’ smartphone use, will grow to represent 19 percent of total store sales by 2016, amounting to $689bn in mobile-influenced sales.

MEC grant to SQU Mazoon Electricity Company (MEC) has allocated RO40,000 for the College of Engineering at Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) in support of academic research and developing the electrical power system laboratories over the next two years. Understanding the importance of establishing an interface between academia and the industry, the grant reaffirms the company’s commitment to seek innovative solutions to advance the electricity supply and distribution sector.

Nawras powers Hi FM and Hala FM studios Nawras, Oman’s customer friendly communications provider, has successfully designed and installed a customised fibre optic solution to power the exciting, new Hi FM and Hala FM studios at Muscat Grand Mall. Nawras says it is proud to be providing the communications for the first radio station in the Sultanate to be broadcasting using just fibre optic broadband and microwave signals.

BUSINESS BRIEFS

THE WAVE WELCOMES FIRST BOATS AT ALMOUJ MARINA The Wave, Muscat, has announced that its award-winning Almouj Marina is now welcoming boats and is offering complimentary berthing special ahead of its autumn grand opening. With the first 120 berths now complete, Almouj Marina is being developed with state-of-the-art facilities by The Wave, Muscat. Extra wide walkways will lead boaters to on-water lounge areas, while a golf cart service to and from berths will be available. The marina will also become home to Oman’s leading sailing school, Oman Sail, and their roster of exciting events. The Wave, Muscat has also recently appointed new Marina Manager, Khalil AbuJaber as well as Hanan Baza who joins the marina after working at Al Masood Marine and Engineering Division, Abu Dhabi.

OMAN SUBMITS PROPOSAL FOR ITU CONFERENCE 2015 The first meeting of the GCC Working Group designated to prepare for the ITU World Radio communication Conference 2015 was held in Salalah, Dhofar Governorate under the patronage of HE Dr Hamed bin Salim Al Rawahi, chief executive of Telecommunications Regulatory Authority. HE Dr Hamed said that the meeting was of great importance for the countries in the region in order to prepare for the ITU World Radio communication Conference 2015. The meeting was arranged to agree on the preparatory plan for the conference proceedings in order to coordinate the views of the GCC states with respect to the conference agenda to reach a unified position for GCC states. It also sought to prepare GCC papers for regional and international meetings and to follow developments related to the Conference agenda.

HSBC BANK OMAN LINKS TO OMANNET SWITCH

QUICKLOOK

HSBC Bank Oman has successfully linked its newly expanded ATM network to OmanNet Switch, giving customers broader access and convenience to cash withdrawal machines across the length and breadth of the Sultanate. Former Oman International Bank (OIB) and HSBC customers can now also make use of all the services offered at over 100 ATMs of the newly merged entity free of charge. “A significantly larger national ATM footprint and diversifying banking service channels is only one of the many advantages customers can enjoy as the integration process continues to realise the full benefits of the merger,” said Alan Jarman, head of retail banking and wealth management at HSBC Bank Oman. “The switch to the larger ATM network enhances the ways we can help customers and offers them faster and better access to their money 24 hours a day, seven days a week.”

Dana Gas reports profit growth in H1 2012 Dana Gas the Middle East’s largest regional private sector natural gas company, announced its financial results for the six months ended June with a net profit after tax of AED387mn, an increase of 79 per cent as compared to AED216mn in H1 2011. Revenue from the sale of hydrocarbons increased to AED1,254mn, with gross profit reaching AED767mn. These figures represent increases of 1 per cent and 13 per cent respectively

September 2012

Bank Muscat’s forex transactions training Fifteen Omani youth from lowincome families undergoing training in foreign exchange transactions as part of a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative of bank muscat are progressing well to be employed with Global Exchange Company. The bank’s CSR team visited the youth at BahwanCybertek where the training is under way to enhance the skills of the beneficiaries.

Africa’s tantalising opportunities Ten African cellular markets can add 121 million subscriptions by 2016, growing at a CAGR of 14 per cent. In a new research report, the Arab Advisors Group analysed the sub-Saharan Africa cellular landscape. The research report focuses on ten of the African markets. These countries are Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mozambique, Senegal, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

900 companies confirmed for 2012 INDEX More than 900 companies will be present at the 22nd annual INDEX International Design Exhibition, the Middle East and North Africa’s largest and longest established interiors and design exhibition. INDEX 2012 runs from September 24-27 2012 at the Dubai World Trade Centre. More than 45 countries will be represented at this year’s show, including pavilions from Japan and Canada, both exhibiting for the first time.

BUSINESS BRIEFS

HE AL SUNAIDY INAUGURATES ‘SALMA’S CHOCOLATES’

COORDINATION BETWEEN HEALTHCARE AND IT MUST

HE Ali bin Masoud Al Sunaidy, Minister of Commerce and Industry, officially inaugurated the launch of “Salma’s Chocolates” under Omran’s “Intajee” umbrella at Sultan Centre in Qurum. The brainchild of Omani duo Salma and Aisha Al Hajri, the homemade chocolates conjure rich flavours of Oman’s unique culture and traditions. Building on the success of the “Intajee” programme with local famers in Al Musannah, Omran is now opening new vistas of opportunity for the two budding entrepreneurs. Omran provided the necessary investment for training, equipment, packaging and marketing.

In the current scenario of data explosion, healthcare providers in Oman have to engage closely with IT solution providers to implement modern data management technology that tackles the big data issue. Healthcare’s pain with big data starts with sheer volume generated by a growing number of solutions being deployed in both clinical and operational environments. According to IDC, the world generated more than one zettabyte (ZB), or one million petabytes, of data in 2010. Jay Savaiano, director of healthcare business development for CommVault says that technology solution providers that understand these challenges are best positioned to become valued and trusted advisors for healthcare organisations. Solution providers need to assist healthcare organisations in embracing the core principles for holistic data management and retention by viewing backups and archives more strategically while leveraging integrated solutions. As a result, healthcare institutions can lower storage costs, mitigate compliance risks and extract maximum value from information in ways that produce valuable clinical and operational benefits.

OMAN STRONG DESPITE OIL CHALLENGES: MOODY’S

QUICKLOOK

Moody’s Investors Service says Oman’s A1 foreign and local currency government bond ratings and stable outlook balance its considerable financial strength against long-term structural economic challenges. According to Moody’s latest annual report on Oman, “Credit Analysis: Oman”, the sultanate has a robust external payments position and public finances. But Oman also has much smaller oil and gas reserves than the other five Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and it is heavily dependent on oil and gas, which account for around 90 per cent of government revenue. Oman’s economic risk is therefore its vulnerability to fluctuations in oil prices.

GE F110 engines to power Oman F-16 aircraft The Royal Air Force of Oman (RAFO) has purchased F110-GE129D engines to power its 12 new Lockheed Martin advanced F-16 Block 50 aircraft. Engine deliveries are scheduled to begin in 2013. “Oman first selected F110 power for its F-16 aircraft in March 2002. We are honoured by the RAFO’s selection of F110 power,” said Joe Guenther, general manager of the F110 programme.

Busiest inter-city air routes are in Asia Asia leads the world’s growth in travel and holds seven out of the ten busiest inter-city routes. In addition to the BRIC markets, Indonesia, the Philippines and Chile showed an impressive growth, according to analysis by the market intelligence solution Amadeus Total Demand. The review looks at trends in worldwide passenger demand between regions, countries and specific airports.

AL ANWAR CERAMICS FINALISES EXPANSION PLAN Al Anwar Ceramic Tiles Company has decided to further expand its production facilities in Nizwa. This decision was taken by the board of directors during the board meeting held recently. In the first six months of 2012, the company produced six million sq mtrs of tiles, with a gross sales revenue of RO18mn and a pretax profit of RO3.7mn. The production facility, which was commissioned in May, has got off to a very good start and the additional output from this plant is expected to favourably impact the performance in the second half of 2012. The capacity expansion will entail the addition of a new production line with an output of about 3.5 million sq mtrs per annum, pushing up the total capacity to 17 million sq mtrs per annum. This expansion project will cost around RO5mn.

Visa spreads Olympic cheer Visa, a worldwide sponsor of the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, headed to the top of the tallest building in the world – Burj Khalifa in Dubai – for the latest television advert in its integrated marketing campaign for the Olympic Games. There were four creative television adverts aimed to show the sheer amount of dedication and practice required to make it to the Olympics.

Etihad Airways welcomes 11 Omanis Eleven Omani graduate managers have recently commenced training at Etihad Airways headquarters in Abu Dhabi as part of the airline’s extensive recruitment drive in Oman. The 21-month Graduate Management Development Programme is designed to train and develop managers who will play a key part in the growth of Etihad Airways. The programme involves a six month workplace orientation.

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BUSINESS BRIEFS

6TH OMAN OIL AND GAS DIRECTORY LAUNCHED The sixth edition of “Oman Oil And Gas .Com”, the first specialised oil and gas directory of its kind, in Oman, was launched recently. Mohammed Al Harthy, CEO, OPAL presented a personalised copy of the directory to HE Nasser Khamis Ali Al-Jashmi, Undersecretary, Ministry Of Oil and Gas. This user friendly directory at a glance provides information about the product/brand, services and a brief company profile. Oman Oil and Gas.Com provides comprehensive information about the Oil and Gas industry in Oman and these directories have been shipped to Manchester in UK for the Business Summit organised by EIC and UKTI in association with OPAL and Shell. The summit was attended by CEOs and general managers from more than 200 British and Iraqi companies from the energy sector. The event is aimed at promoting partnership between Omani and British companies and to introduce the business opportunities available with Shell in MENA region.

MAJOR EDUCATION PROJECTS PLANNED Oman’s education sector is set for a major overhaul with the establishment of new international schools, world class infrastructure for teacher’s training and employability education and introduction of technology-based innovations. The development comes with CORE Education & Technologies, a global leader in education, forming a historic joint venture with Muscat Overseas Company (MOC) through its Middle East-based subsidiary, CORE Education & Consulting Solutions. The 50:50 joint venture will seek to develop a worldclass education environment in the Sultanate. As per the terms set, the joint venture will establish international schools which will answer the needs of Omani residents who usually seek worldclass education opportunities outside of the Sultanate. This would also envisage introduction of technology-based innovations such as aids to teaching and learning to all schools of Oman. The joint venture will allow CORE to align their educational products and solutions offerings to meet the Oman government’s vision where education is a major focus. Currently, the Oman government spends an estimated $3.5bn annually on education alone and allocates around 12-14 per cent of its yearly budgeted expenditure to the education sector.

DME CELEBRATES FIVE YEARS OF GROWTH

QUICKLOOK

Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) is this month celebrating its fifth anniversary. Since its launch in June 2007, DME has established itself as the premier international energy futures and commodities exchange in the Middle East, recording consistent year-on-year trading growth. The Oman Crude Oil Futures Contract (DME Oman), the exchange’s flagship contract, is now the most credible oil benchmark relevant to the Asian market. In 2012, trades on DME passed the 3 billion barrel mark, with a total of 3.478 million contracts traded on the Exchange and annual average daily volumes growing at an annual compounded rate of 31 per cent. Volumes for DME Oman have surged in the first half of 2012, reaching a record 141,129 contracts (141.129 million barrels) in May.

BankDhofar achieves ISO re-certification Following a successful ReCertification Audit, BankDhofar is one of only two banks in the Sultanate to have achieved the ISO/IEC 27001:2005 Information Security Re-Certification for its entire information technology division. The certification assures BankDhofar customers that the confidentiality, integrity and availability of their information is secure in accordance with an internationally recognised standard available from the International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO).

September 2012

Alpen Capital opens office in Bengaluru In keeping with its expansion plans, Alpen Capital announced the opening of its third office in India, in the garden city of Bengaluru. The setting up of operations in Bengaluru will enable Alpen Capital, India to tap the vast opportunities that are present in the southern India markets. Alpen Capital launched its operations in India in 2009 with offices in New Delhi and Mumbai and is registered with a Merchant Banking license with the Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI).

Newrest Wacasco gets quality certification Newrest Wacasco has recently received the highly coveted ISO 22000:2005 certification; one of the world’s highest quality standards for Food Safety Management Systems. Newrest Wacasco’s ISO 22000:2005 certification demonstrates the company’s industry leadership in best business practices and sustainability in the food industry in the Sultanate. Newrest Wacasco is a part of Newrest Group and is partnered locally with the OMZEST Group.

Second Cup staff get awards Ten Second Cup baristas were awarded with the coveted ‘Primo Barista’ Certification. The certificate recognises individuals who successfully pass the multi-faceted training programme establishing them as revered coffee experts by Second Cup International. In order to achieve this highest level of coffee making skill, baristas undergo a rigorous training process.Their ultimate assessment is to produce five hot and cold Second Cup coffeebased beverages in less than three and a half minutes.

INTHENEWS

OMANIS KEEN TO BRIDGE GAP BETWEEN EDUCATION AND JOB REQUIREMENTS: SURVEY Preliminary results of largest workplace study, QuduratTM, announced by Aon Hewitt says that despite ongoing efforts, Omanis continue to report lower levels of work engagement. Nationals report lower levels of satisfaction with their education to support their work preparedness

mani nationals are keen to bridge the gap between their educational preparation and their actual job requirements, according to the preliminary findings of the ground-breaking QuduratTM research, announced by Aon Hewitt, the global human resources business of Aon. QuduratTM is the largest workplace study in the region, focused on the advancement of national talent, the single biggest HR issue in the region. QuduratTM – meaning ‘capabilities’ in Arabic – is unprecedented in scope and scale, voicing the opinion of more than 20,000 employees across seven countries (UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain and Egypt). With final results expected to be announced region-wide by December 2012, insights from the study are expected to significantly impact HR practices and human capital development in the region. The study was first launched in 2011, and produced many counter-intuitive findings which surprised and challenged the preconceptions employers had in the region about local talent and nationals in the workforce. Among the most unexpected findings were that Omani nationals reported lower levels of engagement in the public sectors than they did in the private sector, and that less than half had confidence in the most senior leadership in their respective organisations.

September 2012

Growing disconnect The preliminary results of this year’s report reveal that Omanis are reporting a growing disconnect between their job requirements and the preparation they have received for those requirements through their education, compared to foreign workers. In addition, Omani nationals continue to report lower levels of work engagement than expatriates, which could impact their longer term motivation, performance and productivity at the workplace. The report shows similar results for nationals across all seven countries involved in the study. Commenting on these initial findings, Radhika Punshi, Aon Hewitt’s head of applied research (MENA) says, “As Oman’s and the region’s economy continues to recover, there will be a renewed and exponential growth focus on attracting, motivating and retaining top talent within all industrial sectors, with a greater emphasis on quality. However, more than ever before, there is a greater urgency for alignment and collaboration between the education system and the demand from employers.” “Our early findings point to a pressing mismatch between education and employment, significantly impacting the motivation, expectations and preparedness of current and future

employees towards their jobs. On a more positive note, the fact that there is an awareness among Omani nationals of this mismatch points towards a willingness to address this problem,” she added.

100 participating organisations This year’s QuduratTM study already has over 15,000 responses from approximately 100 participating organisations in UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman and Egypt. The first wave of the study, concluded last year had over 4,600 respondents in total. The study has also received strategic support through partnerships with a host of governmental organisations across the participating countries, including Abu Dhabi Tawteen Council, which spearheads the efforts of the Abu Dhabi government in sustainable Emirati workforce development. Other organisations which supported the study include TECOM Investments in Dubai, a diversified conglomerate with strategic investments in sectors that contribute to the development of Dubai’s knowledge-based economy; Tamkeen Bahrain, which is tasked with supporting Bahrain’s private sector and positioning it as the key driver of economic development and Bahrain’s Institute of Public Administration, which aims to enhance the skills and competencies of government employees in the Kingdom.

PERISCOPE

By Matein Khalid

Strategy and value in oil and gas markets As long as there is no military conflict in the Gulf, Brent is overpriced at $115 and has potential downside to $105-108

t is ironic that Brent crude soared by $25 since its recent $90 low in June even though Europe is on the brink of recession and Asian industrial demand continues to plummet led by the GDP slowdowns in China and India. Geopolitical risks in Syria have escalated and the oil market also expects a supply shock if Israel-Iran tensions lead to a war, the reason the Brent one year forward curve has steepened. The collision between a US Navy Fifth Fleet destroyer and an oil tanker in the Gulf has only exacerbated the nervousness in the physical oil markets, particularly as sanctions have led to a 20 per cent fall in Iranian exports. Supply shock risk has also been amplified by disruptions in the Iraqi pipeline networks after disputes on the Petroleum Law with the Kurdistan Regional Government. Maintenance shutdowns in North Sea oilfields and BP’s seasonal pipeline network shutdown have also led to buying in the Brent-West Texas spread and global hedge funds have gone long on oil futures since they expect the Bernanke Fed and the Draghi ECB to lean towards easy money to hedge global deflation risks.

The author is a renowned investment banker based in Dubai

September 2012

The oil market is also convinced that Saudi Arabia will restrain its own output since the kingdom needs a breakeven price above $100 to implement its $138 billion public spending and social welfare programs.

As long as there is no military conflict in the Gulf, Brent is overpriced at $115 and has potential downside to $105 – 108. At these levels, investors could well consider strategic trades in the world’s leading oil service colossus in the 64 – 66 range or Occidental Petroleum (an equity stakeholder in the Dolphin Project), a major operator in Qatar, Iraq, Abu Dhabi and Libya. A far less volatile value share is French supermajor Total SA, whose depository receipts (ADR) in New York trade at seven times earnings and offer a 5.62 per cent dividend yield. After all, the ten year US Treasury note yields a mere 1.60 per cent and, unlike Total, does not offer 5 per cent growth. Caveat, I believe Brent is currently overpriced and would only consider energy shares if Brent falls to $105 – 108. Halliburton has been one of the world’s most controversial oil and gas service companies in the past decade, since its former CEO was

Halliburton shares, if purchased at 28 – 30, have 50 per cent upside in the next twelve months as Wall Street rerates its embryonic international business

former US Vice President Cheney and its Kellogg Brown Root (KBR) faced lawsuits related to inflated contracting overruns for the Pentagon in Iraq. Yet Halliburton is now a pure play oil and gas service firm as it long spun off KBR in an IPO. It trades at a valuation multiple of 10, almost 50 per cent below its rival Schlumberger and has huge growth potential in reservoir management, deepwater drilling and natural gas outside the US. This is the reason Halliburton moved its global head oﬃce from Houston to Dubai. I believe Halliburton shares, if purchased at 28 – 30, have 50 per cent upside in the next twelve months as Wall Street rerates its embryonic international business. Apache Petroleum (symbol APA in New York) is unquestionably one of the world’s most attractive and misunderstood oil/gas exploration

and production companies, with concessions and assets in offshore North Sea, Egypt, Argentina, Texas, Alberta Texas, Kenya and South America. Apache shares have fallen from 112 last February to 85 now on the NYSE as Wall Street is extremely nervous about nationalisation risk in its Egyptian assets, one fifth of its proven reserves of three billion oil equivalent barrels (BOE). However, post Mubarak Egypt desperately needs foreign exchanges as central bank reserves are only four months import cover. Nationalisation risk in Egypt is simply not credible, though taxes and royalties on Apache’s concession could well be renegotiated, as is routine in the emerging markets. Apache can well deliver 15 per cent production growth, thanks to its unique onshore production US/Canada and global exploration portfolio. The

biggest risk is in Argentina, where the Peronist government nationalised Repsol’s local subsidiary YPF. Argentina is a marginal franchise but Egypt is mission critical to the future production/reserve growth for Apache. President Morsi’s technocratic Cabinet has indicated that foreign oil and gas companies that are long term operators are welcome to develop Egypt’s energy resources, a vote of confidence in Apache. Apache is a beauty in the 76-78 range as its valuation multiples do no justice to its EPS/reserve replacement potential. Apache is also a takeover candidate for a Big Oil supermajor eager to boost economies of scale in its reserves/production portfolio. In that case, I doubt if the Apache will go below $112. This is a risk reward calculus that is compelling as I drill for oil on Wall Street!

Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s time again for

straight-talk

Capital Market Authority

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Is Oman future-ready?

Initiative

December

Oman has made tremendous strides forward in economic prosperity and social stability in the recent past. But is it enough? Is there a gap between good intentions and ground realities? Is Oman ready for the journey from ‘good’ to ‘better’? Oman Debate will once again bring together some of the nation’s most inﬂuential business leaders and policy-makers to debate what more needs to be done – and what can be done better.

Celebrating Excellence Oman’s top companies in 2011 will be honoured at this illustrious event.

Tim Sebastian, renowned presenter of the BBC’s HARDtalk and The Doha Debates will moderate Oman Debate 2012.

UMS

STRATEGIC PARTNER

SUPPORT PARTNER

www.omandebate.com By invitation only For partnership enquiries contact: AHMED 99356490

OFFICIAL MEDIA

FACE2FACE

Focused, hands-on investor Al Anwar Holdings is proud of what it has achieved during the last year and looks forward to a promising future. At the same time, the company keeps its eyes set on the tasks and goals ahead, says Reji Joseph, CEO, in an interview with Visvas Paul D Karra

Can you briefly comment about when you joined Al Anwar and how has your experience been in Al Anwar? I joined Al Anwar Holdings a year ago during the middle of last year. Previously I worked with some of the large investment banks, accounting firms and corporations in the Middle East and South East Asia. Most recently, I was the Director at KPMG Corporate Finance, Qatar. I have been able to work at a rapid pace to assess and garner enough information to make my initial decisions. This is because of the strong and competent board we have at Al Anwar. My work strategy involves a thorough understanding of the business in operation, as well as the

September 2012

people responsible for its eﬃcient functioning. At the Al Anwar group, it was refreshing to note that the strength of the management as well as the determination and the passion of the employees makes this group great. NAPCO and Voltamp are two of the big success stories of Al Anwar. Do you plan to continue with the same formula for future investment cycles? NAPCO and Voltamp were excellent deals. More recently we did a few interesting transactions; and this included our successful sale of a major stake in Sun Packaging and our stake increase in Taageer Finance. This is in line with our strategy. We also have Al Maha Ceramics in our group which has been doing well. Al Anwar is dependent upon the performance of its investments during the holdings period by share of profits and dividends; and at successful exits. The businesses within our group are part of a very dynamic and competitive market. We have carved out a niche in each of the businesses and we continue to track the frequent changes in technologies and shifts in market dynamics. At the Al Anwar Holding group we stay responsive to market signals and view each shift as an opportunity. We believe that we have developed our capability to constantly relook at our processes, develop new products and enter newer markets. Our track record has given us the ability to anticipate the changing preferences of our customers by understanding the industry trends and visualising new markets. We maintain our operational focus in the business we operate in to optimise our participation. What are the other companies that Al Anwar is presently involved in? In Oman we have investments in two listed entities namely Taageer Finance Company and Voltamp Energy and three unlisted companies namely Falcon Insurance Company, Al Maha Ceramics and Sun Packaging Company.

We have a few regional investments in Bahrain, Kuwait and India. What is the basis on which your disinvestment policy works? Our investment policies which are based on sound investment principles. We seek to time our exit from any of our investments when it matures in its life cycle. We exit an investment when we have completed our mission of taking the entity to the next level and when we believe that the introduction of new shareholders will benefit the entity; this is precisely what we did with Sun Packaging last year and earlier with NAPCO and Voltamp besides others. In Sun Packaging, we did not sell the entire stake because even though we exited, we still believe in the company. So for us, if we didn’t exit we could still be satisfied with the investment. Do you have any opportunities in the present circumstances by which you can enhance shareholders’ value? We are looking at a few opportunities and are evaluating them. We have a stringent evaluation process and we participate in opportunities where we believe we can add value – our belief is

We have carved out a niche in each of the businesses and we continue to track the frequent changes in technologies and shifts in market dynamics. At the Al Anwar Holding Group we stay responsive to market signals and view each shift as an opportunity

in “Operational Enhancement” based investment. Our style of investments is through partnerships – one of our core strengths. We shall consider participation where we are certain that we can add value and which pass our robust evaluation processes. We have made it a priority to constantly seek and implement best business practices and we constantly recalibrate ourselves to optimise our position. The current macroeconomic factors remain dynamic in the Sultanate and this will continue to provide Al Anwar with opportunities. Please share with us some numbers like your company’s present net worth and total investments Al Anwar Holding’s consolidated net worth as on March 31, 2012 is RO18mn. The present estimated market value of its total investments is RO24.5mn. Does Al Anwar have any investments outside Oman? We have three investments outside Oman and these are in Bahrain, India and Kuwait. However our current focus shall be Oman and UAE. What is the pattern you follow in order to diversify your stakes? We make no attempt to diversify our investments. We maintain a clear focus on the sectors we follow and companies in which we participate. We are not a generalist investor but a focused and hands-on investor. However we do practice several risk management actions to protect our investments and capital. We have a system of thorough and consistent tracking of the sectors and evaluation of our investments along better risk management practices. This is on account of considerable efforts of the management of the different companies within our group that has helped to shape our progress. Family owned companies are the dominant market forces in Oman. How do you view such an investment

FACE2FACE

climate as compared to other markets you have worked in? There are several large family groups here in Oman and these form a very valuable source of business expertise while also being a source of capital. I am truly impressed with the level of sophistication which some of them work with. The family groups here are quite versatile and form a new class of investors which play a huge role in the local economy. I have worked in several markets around the world and each has its own set of dynamics. Oman is different but has its charm of doing international business with a sense of ethics and maturity. The courtesy and politeness which is a part of the Omani culture, is the foremost and the most obvious and powerful impression I have. There is this richness of culture that has been preserved even as there is great modernity all around. I have travelled and lived in several countries and the culture that I find in Oman is both unique and refreshing. Personal dignity and ethics are the cornerstones to businesses here in Oman. This ensures that governance and fair play are observed. The local businesses are becoming more sophisticated and Oman is sure to make huge progress in the years to come. And the vision and wisdom of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said will continue to move Oman forward and reach new heights. Are there any areas of challenge in your associate or subsidiary companies? Our performance is related to the performance of each of our individual investee companies. We do not walk away from challenges but see them as new opportunities for growth and eﬃciencies in our efforts to continue improving our earnings. We are in a phase of a fast evolving market place. Our regional investments have the local environmental and business dynamics. It is also refreshing to note that the MOCI, CMA and the other regulatory agencies have laid the formulation of good corporate governance and

September 2012

Our performance is related to the performance of each of our individual investee companies. We do not walk away from challenges but see them as new opportunities for growth and efforts to continue to improve our earnings transparency along with a robust legal system. This makes the environment extremely business friendly. Each of our investments has their unique challenges which are inherent to the business and the location in which they operate. However we have a robust and thorough monitoring system and we track the performance of each of our investee companies. We actively participate in the boards and the sub committees. By this participation we add the maximum value to our investments. In our companies we strive to widen the gap with our competitors by strengthening our technological and market leadership. We hope to secure absolute competitiveness and also to survive any market downturns by enhancing overall eﬃciency. We assist our investee companies by participating in the build-ups of their strategic long term blueprints for growth and direction. We are very hands-on investor and look to use our experience in building business more eﬃciently and economically. Due to prevailing global market conditions, the capital market in Oman is facing a major crunch. What is the way forward for investing companies such as yours? I believe that capital markets will constantly make adjustments.

However economies in Europe will be further tested and the issues with borrowings and spending will need to be addressed. The global economy is currently going through several changes. All this will throw us challenges and this will come regularly. I believe that once these challenges are met there will be fresh ones which we will have to tackle. We have taken multiple scenarios’ into consideration and have devised our investment strategy. These are times of great opportunities and investment companies with the right strategy can benefit from this. The advantage we have is that we do not have a fund structure and this enables us to readjust quickly to the changing dynamics. The critical input for success in any business is the ability to use the capital it employs more wisely, and this is more pertinent to our industry. The past events have shown that we are a sector in transition. We have seen several market stresses on similar business models. The direction the industry is moving towards is apparent if we look at some of the key trends. There is a greater emphasis on prudence, and the irrational exuberance in investing in certain highly volatile sectors, is declining. This is good and it shows the maturity of several of the regional investment houses. However this is not a voluntary turn of events but was a forced outcome of the financial crisis. Perhaps now some key lessons have been learnt and we hope that this message is not quickly forgotten when markets open up again. While the world is changing, our values shall not change and we are guided by our principles. We continue to manage our business around the evolving needs of the market place, so that we can be at the vanguard of change. To accomplish our goals we have committed ourselves to our principles on what we do and how we do it. 2011 was an interesting year with a challenging economic environment along with the consumption slowdown in developed countries as a fall out of the European crisis.

COVERSTORY

On the INFORMATION Superhighway The wind of ICT renaissance is blowing across the world at an irrevocable pace, and Oman has identified its potential as a key enabler of economic and social development. But the country has to focus more on harnessing its human resources and developing indigenous solutions in order to emerge as a regional information powerhouse. A report by Muhammed Nafie

Information technology and telecommunications have become the main engine of development in the third millennium. That is why we have attached importance to producing a national strategy for developing people’s potential and skills in this field. We are keeping a close eye on the significant steps that are being taken in this respect as we aspire to push the Sultanate towards the boundaries of new knowledge…” – His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said at the annual inauguration of the Council of Oman on November 11, 2008

ne of the phenomenal aspects of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) revolution the world over is the unprecedented way it turns our life inside out. Unlike all other previous revolutions in human history which had contributed in different ways to build our civilisation, the current digital revolution is transforming our life in its entirety. There is hardly anyone in the world - be it laymen or people of consequence, and no area of life - be it governance, education, banking, manufacturing,

September 2012

Fareed Al Hinai, Vice Chairman, IMTAC

communication, entertainment and what not- that remain untouched by the sweeping influence of the tidal wave of information technology, in one way or the other. The rapidity and ease with which the society at large adapts to the latest technologies can be seen everywhere, from the Global Positioning System (GPS) which guides you when you lose your way while on a desert safari, to numerous personalised apps at your smart phone; from a smart class room where students come with MacBook and log on to KhanAcademy.org to listen to various lectures and video clips while their teacher can see who is watching what, to the online facilities to book your tickets and check into and check out of a hotel. No technology or invention in human history has assumed such a ubiquitous presence and remarkably inclusive nature. While even the printing machine of Johannes Guttenberg had arguably failed to address the blind and the illiterate, the ICT leaves no one in the lurch.

Alluring prospects Oman was not late to wake up to this realisation as it has identified the importance of Information Technology as a key enabler of economic, social and community development and laid down a comprehensive strategy to create a knowledge-based economy in its Vision 2020. A slew of initiatives by the Information Technology Authority has marked Oman’s vault into the modern age of ICT. The last decade saw the number of internet users in the Sultanate rising from a meagre four per cent to nearly 70 per cent with an ever increasing demand for broadband subscription and mobile internet. The e-Oman strategy of the government seeks to bridge the digital divide and make e-government services available to all the people in the country. The ITA has launched a number of IT-related infrastructure projects, including an e-government services portal, a gateway to the services offered by government departments online. According to Business Monitor

Shiva Prasad Vakalapudi, CEO, ITON

Internationa (BMI) forecasts, the total size of Oman’s IT market is estimated to be $363mn in 2012, up from an estimated $339mn in 2011. It forecasts a CAGR of six per cent for 2012-2016. The Omani addressable software market is projected by BMI at $70mn in 2012 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of seven per cent over 2012-2016.

OMANI IT MARKET FORECASTS BY BUSINESS MONITOR INTERNATIONAL y Total size of IT market in 2012: $363mn y Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) for 2012-2016: $339mn y Size of IT services market in 2012: $96mn y Hardware sales in 2012: $196mn y Hardware sales by 2016: $239mn y Addressable software market in 2012: $70mn y Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) for 2012-2016: 7%

In 2011, there was a pickup in project flow from significant IT verticals such as oil and gas and banking. The Omani IT services market is expected to be worth around $96mn in 2012, accounting for about 27 per cent of all IT spending in the country. Kit Lloyd, who recently landed in the Sultanate as the new country general manager of Gulf Business Machines (GBM) bringing 27 years of experience with IBM world over, waxes eloquent about Oman’s prospects to emerge as an IT hub in the region. “Oman has a great opportunity to leapfrog the rest of the region in Information Technology,” he says. “The world economic forum has ranked Oman 40th in world for networking access. That is a remarkable achievement. The government’s focus on developing skills in information technology is commendable. Knowledge Oasis Muscat (KOM) is a physical embodiment of the commitment to training people and it can serve as a magnet for more investment

COVERSTORY

by foreign companies. The establishment of a centre like KOM is a great step forward.”

Inclusive governance As part of its e-government initiatives, the country has accelerated the adoption of ICT across the public sector in order to deliver more eﬃcient, transparent, more inclusive and more sustainable government to all citizens. Highlighting Oman’s notable achievements in this area was the recently published UN e-government readiness survey in which the Sultanate was ranked 64th among 193 countries, advancing 18 positions from the previous survey.

MK Janaki Raman, General Manager, Bahwan IT The Sultanate has rightly understood the increasing role of e-government in promoting inclusive and participatory development of people. In an important step towards

this direction, Muscat Municipality opened in May 2012 a state-of-the-art 24-hour call centre which enable city dwellers to register their complaints

Kit Lloyd, Country General Manager, Gulf Business Machines, Oman

September 2012

about all municipal services by dialing 1111. Be it a burned out streetlight next door or the cockroach problem at home, within two minutes of receiving your call, the call centre traces the number of the official concerned with this particular job out of the 2,500 plus employees of the Municipality and sends to him/her an SMS. For each complaint the call centre gives a ticket number to the caller for further follow-up and once the problem gets rectified, it sends a confirmation message. This advanced call centre which was developed by Modern Information Technology (ITON) includes three support lines. The first line receives complaints and customer care executives record the complaints before passing it onto the second support line which forwards it to the concerned directorate or department and follows up on the process. The third support line, which represents the concerned body, replies to the second line with the proposed solution or action taken. The Municipality plans to bring all important hotlines in the country under its contact centre wherein callers will just need to dial 1111 for complaints regarding any public service. ITON has done a similar project for the Public Authority for Water and Electricity (PAWE). Whether you call for applying for a new water connection, or changing the metre, the system passses it onto the person/ office concerned after mapping all the 35 offices of the PAWE across Oman. In addition, the Ministry of Housing has successfully implemented ITON’s flagship solution e-Office, to clearly configure business processes, leading to better process performance in terms of turnaround time and quality, without compromising information security and safe upkeep of digital assets. This project has enabled the company to win the prestigious His Majesty’s Award for eProject in 2011.

COVERSTORY

place. It is part of ITA’s digital society strategy. It has multiple applications such as issuing certificate for housing, registration when you buy and sell properties, issuing shares etc. IMTAC which set up the country’s prestigious National Payment system that functions 24/7 has worked on multiple projects with the ITA, banks and ministries. “We have a very successful track record in implementing large national level projects in the Sultanate,” adds Al Hinai.

Haitham Abu Nasser, General Manager/Partner, Integrated Systems

“We are proud to be part of the digital vision of the country by creating innovative platforms locally in tune with global trends,” says Shiva Prasad Vakalapudi, CEO of ITON. “ITON continuously contributes to develop the Omani digital society and e-government through many projects concerning development of the IT industry in the Sultanate and also to expand research and development activities in all sectors of the national economy. ITON has a deep understanding of the user community and business dynamics of government organisations of this region which in turn brings a lot of value and performance eﬃciency into the organsation. ITON has 180 highly qualified and experienced resources in the region and has its regional centre of excellence based in Muscat”. ITON has been putting a lot of efforts using R&D centres in enhancing its platform, which is being rechristened as ITONX, to scale up the adaptability

September 2012

of new technology and functional innovations from time to time. Vakalapudi adds that ITON has several national initiatives such as e-visa system implementation and has more than 300 associates globally at various locations like USA, Canada, Australia, Middle East, Africa and India. Another most important e-government initiative getting underway is the National Public Key Infrastructure (PKI). IMTAC is providing the infrastructure solution for this project which will be operational in the next year. The PKI is an advanced public infrastructure solution which primarily enables transactions to be digitally signed and exchanged in a very secure format and this can have multiple applications in banking, government and stock exchanges. Says Fareed Al Hinai, vice chairman of IMTAC, “Today you do a lot of transactions via manual signatures which will be completely converted to digital signatures once the PKI is in

The Central Bank of Oman’s (CBO) OmanNet, a central automated teller machine (ATM) and point of sale (POS) national switch, developed by IMTAC as a local partner, is one of the most sophisticated e-payment systems in the Middle East. Al Hinai says, “We are proud to be part of it. Nobody in West Asia has such an integrated system which enables the migration of all financial institutions onto a common state-of-the-art technology. The system is a showcase of the Sultanate’s adoption of advanced technology and has received positive reviews regarding its eﬃciency.”

Proving its strength Oman’s capabilities to provide sophisticated digital facilities were put on a real test when the country hosted the second Asian Beach games. Bahwan IT did a marvelous job by providing quality IT services, software and timing equipment to conduct the games successfully. “It involved the planning of the entire services, registration of visitors, athletes, sportspersons, oﬃcials and connecting all the three venues,” says MK Janaki Raman, general manager, Bahwan IT. There were 40 countries and 14 games and we managed to do it so well that we were appreciated by the International Olympic Committee.” Bahwan IT also handled the entire procedure of the recent elections to the Majlis al Shura which included the registration of voters, designing and printing the ballot papers, distribution of voting equipment in all the wilayats, supporting the digital counting of the votes by using high-end scanners and online publication of the results.

Integrated Systems has also executed a couple of high-profile IT infrastructure and network projects for the government recently. “The company offers state-of-theart technologies focused on IT infrastructure, networking, security, unified communication system and services and most of our products are aimed at the government, corporates such as banks and public companies,” says Haitham Abu Nasser, general manager/partner, Integrated Systems. The company brings the latest technologies from well-known and reliable vendors the world over to serve its customers.

Clearing Obstacles But a moot point is how far Oman has gone to promote its own indigenous software development and harness its own human resources to usher in a productive and innovative IT culture. Fawzi Al Harrasi, managing director, Exceed IT highlights the importance of investing more on software development in order to tap the full potential of the country. “Unfortunately we do not have more companies who are serious about developing innovative solutions unique for the country. We are more used to trading products than producing solutions.” “We have to go beyond importing customised products from principals aboard. We do not have bigger IT projects creating solutions for the regional and international markets at large, despite having a strong higher education system in place and a lot of other advantages such as political and economic stability.” Fawzi attributes this failure to various causes including the lack of support from financial institutions who hesitate to fund IT companies. “We lack venture capital investment which is the main driver of innovation. Innovation is there in people’s mind but they cannot bring it into reality because it requires resources, highly skilled people, and funding.” Fawzi who has recently been to Silicon Valley has seen how a competitive atmosphere coupled with the support of venture capitalists enables fresh graduates to come

out with innovative solutions. In addition, as an oil producing country we expect everything to come from the government. He says that though the government has a comprehensive ICT strategy, we need to be faster in walking the talk. “Attracting more MNCs to operate from Oman can serve as a solution; but they must transfer knowledge to the locals and contribute to enhance local talent, otherwise it may end up as a mere real-estate business similar to what happens in Dubai Internet City.” Exceed Academy accords more importance to building and developing national human resources. It picks up young graduates from different universities in Oman and abroad and trains them on various Microsoft technologies. It also gets them employed with various government departments and companies such as Bank Muscat and Omantel. Exceed

has teamed up with Microsoft to give training to young Omanis in different programmes. It has trained over 200 people for capacity building and has conducted a 12-month programme for 60 fresh graduates out of which 55 have completed the course. S Jayakumar, general manager of International Information Technology Company (IITC) is of the opinion that though Oman is adapting to new technology the industry requires a major push in lowering the cost of telecommunication. “Communication cost is still pretty high. That does not allow companies especially the smaller entities to do a lot of consolidation works and centralise the system.” He also adds that the government is investing more money than it was doing before but the decision making cycle is a bit slow.” He thinks that getting the right resources at the right time is one of

Fawzi Al Harrasi, Managing Director, Exceed IT

COVERSTORY

the big challenges when you have a project in hand. “It is not easy to find the right skillsets. That is why we have trained them a lot. People who come out of the Universities are not equipped for the job market. It requires some amount of effort to train them and make them prepared to meet the needs of the industry. But hopefully things are looking better. We are seeing more brighter and committed students coming out from universities.” Apart from providing training to its Omani employees, IITC offers training to college students. In 2001, it did a summer training programme and conducted a six-month training programme for 25 fresh graduates before appointing them as its employees. Now the company has a lot of Omanis working as its technical staff. Primarily a system integrator providing established solutions to the customers in the Sultanate, IITC pursues all the latest trends in the technology such as data centre, server consolidation, network consolidation, virtualisation etc. In order to address the specific requirements of the market, IITC has teamed up with various international partners such as CISCO, HP, Microsoft and Oracle. It also works with large system integrators from various part of the world such as Wipro from India for large application projects and Tech Mahindra for telecom applications. It has also tied up with Finacle from Infosys for banking services. Rahul Bhavsar, CEO, Gulf Infotech stresses the importance of trusting technology to make all our ICT pursuits more effective and forward looking. Oman government has done enough to promote IT in the country but government organisations are reluctant to accept technology. He says he would be really happy if the government says that the semi government sectors can opt for cloud solutions. He wonders why people are still reluctant to give Internet access to the employees. “Some of them block

September 2012

Rahul Bhavsar, CEO, Gulf Infotech

Facebook and Linkedin at oﬃces. It’s high time we changed our mindset. Recently the Khimji Ramdas group has provided internet access to all its employees. But still some people think that internet access will make people unproductive. But trust me 15-20 minute access to Internet or Facebook will increase their productivity; it will make employees happier and more productive and they won’t crib. If you deny access to Internet at oﬃce, employees will manage to do it on their own mobile devices which will take more time. YouTube is a learning technology where you can learn a lot of things including sales techniques. Khan’s academy is a very good example of this.”

initiative (preferably on a government level) to increase awareness about the role of IT in business. “As far as ITA is concerned, the work being done by them in bringing a digital culture is excellent, and is well appreciated, but awareness is the key. I believe most of the organisations in Oman are either not aware about the existence of laws on ‘Cyber Crime’ and ‘Electronic Transactions’, and even if they do, they don’t know how it applies to them. I would also like to appreciate the work done by Oman CERT in creating awareness about information security, but again, a lot more needs to be done.”

Log onto cloud

Sajid Ali, general manager – IT, Oman Cables Industry, stresses the importance of information security function. “Many think that information security is all about antivirus or firewalls,” he says. “Information security is much more than that; it talks about confidentiality, integrity and availability of information.” He suggests a major

Cloud is one of the latest buzzwords on Oman’s IT landscape. The country is making rapid headway in cloud computing. For instance, Gulf IT which sells Google Apps, Google’s cloud computing solutions, has notched up 100 plus customers in Oman within a short span. The company has recently completed three years of its operation in Oman and is looking to expand its presence to UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar

COVERSTORY

and Bahrain in the next couple of years. “Today everybody is talking about cloud and people have accepted the technology,” says Bhavsar. “Apart from Google, now HP, IBM, Microsoft and various others are giving cloud services. Initially we had to educate people about the benefit of moving to cloud. When we started there were two million customers globally and there were big names associated with Google such as Jaguar Landover. That gave a good start and the buzz was already there; and when we started the recession was going and so the cloud worked out to be a cost-effective solution. We got initial customers especially those who did not want to spend heavily on servers and software. They moved to cloud to see whether they could save money. Our first customer was Muscat Pharmacy and that led us to get more references and now the whole Khimji Ramdas Group is our customer. We started our Indian operation last year with oﬃces

in Pune, Mumbai and Ahmedabad where we build our own products and tools for Google Apps.” Haitham also considers cloud computing as a major trend in the IT industry because everyone tries to use hand-held devices such as smartphones and tablet computers in their businesses. However like any change in technology, cloud is also facing some initial resistance especially because of some concerns about its security. “Cloud computing is still in the awareness stage and people have not so far embraced it fully but I think the change will definitely happen and people will be more willing to accept it as long as their data is safe and SLAs are in place,” says Al Hinai. He reveals that IMTAC is looking to partner with international cloud providers such as HP to provide enhanced cloud services to its customers.

But Llyod believes that there is no point in casting aspersion on the security features of cloud. He says that security concern is a thing of the past as there are a number ways to make your virtual system 100 per cent secure in the cloud. Look at how all the giants such as Stratford Stockholm, banks, insurance companies and telecos are moving onto cloud without being afraid of putting their data on the cloud. Look at how other organsiations in the world have transformed. Cloud opens up your platform for innovation. Ten years ago you had to invest millions of dollars in a large system. But today you get better functionality for a few dollars. The more technology gets matured the faster security concerns will disappear.” He also observes that the new generation coming into business management position has grown up with cloud. They are used to putting their data in the public network and are aware of its benefits unlike the old guards of the 1960s and 70s. Llyod who has run a cloud computing business in many parts of the world also shares his vision about enabling the Sultanate as a regional cloud service provider. “Oman has to develop its own local cloud services - for Oman by Oman. I hope the government will introduce local cloud services to make sure that the services are offered locally,” he avers. But a major challenge lies in making people switch over to new technologies as some of them have heavily invested in existing infrastructure. He admits that since the change of mindset is hard to come, the government can play a big role by investing in new technologies.

S Jayakumar, General Manager, International Information Technology Company

September 2012

Although IITC was one of the first companies to introduce cloud based applications in the country by bringing MessageLabs, an anti-virus and anti-spam application from UKbased symantec, six years ago, the company currently does not sell any cloud based implementation. Says Jayakumar, “Right now cloud has not picked up as a technology in Oman; but we have some private cloud applications. We have centralised all our applications to a data centre

which is used by various branches of the IITC. That kind of consolidation is happening.” Baby Sam, director, marketing, Al Kay’s International believes that although cloud computing is relatively in its infancy in the Omani IT market, it is picking up momentum quite exponentially. “We expect the major businesses to soon start the transition to cloud at least partially. Also as cloud computing services could prove a boon to SMEs by reducing their overheads, a lot of these enterprises are keen on making the move to cloud based infrastructure. Al Kay’s International, which won the ISO 9001:2008 quality system award in 2011, tied up with Microsoft and Epicor for ERP practices in 2012. It has also agreements with four major corporates for its ERP implementation. “We delve into everything from auto ID solutions like Biometric and mobility solutions to ERP and CRM products like Microsoft Dynamics, Epicor, Maxim and Microsoft CRM,” says Baby Sam. “Our vertical applications include campus management system, HR and payroll, retail POS, hospitality management software, fixed asset tracking and even customised applications to suit the specific needs of the individual organisation or business. We also offer power solutions like UPS, generator, stabilisers, invertors and battery systems.” However, automotive, hospitality, retail, manufacturing, governmental, trading and services sectors comprise 80 per cent of Al Kay’s total revenues.

For a class room revolution Another area where ICT is bringing about a radical shift is education. The Internet has proved to be making a real difference in educating children. Smart class rooms, innovative teaching technologies and various digital education initiatives serve to cultivate creativity and explore multiple types of intelligence. Needless to mention about the access to a vast amount of information and the facility to learn without any barrier about time and location.

Baby Sam, Director, Marketing, Al Kay’s International

In Oman, Nawras Business has recently linked the Ministry of Education (MoE) with a fast internet connection to support every state school with quicker access, better web browsing, improved data connectivity and enhanced study support. Teachers, students and parents visiting the main MoE educational portal are now able to enjoy this web experience since the new portal www.moe.gov.om went live in May 2012. In addition, over 140 state owned schools across the Sultanate will be using the Nawras Internet Professional (NIP) service delivered via WiMAX technology. Gulf IT provides various innovative free education services through Google Apps in nine higher education institutes in Oman including the University of Nizwa where there are 8,000 users. “Google does not charge anything for it except for a nominal deployment fee,” says Bhavsar. For educational purposes, there are Google docs and Google portal. The former helps students to create documents,

submit assignments, share it with other colleagues, work together and invite others to add to it. The latter helps them build a project site, store all these information and share it. There are 10 million plus students using these services globally including 20,000 students in Oman. Bhavsar considers this as a long term investment. “Why is Google giving it free? The students of today are the businessmen of tomorrow, the technology goes along with them; any student coming out of University of Nizwa or Majan College is ready with Google apps.” IMTAC also offers a mix of infrastructure and software services to SQU and various other private universities such as German University of Technology (GUtech). In addition, the company has an education technology department which works very closely with the Ministry of Manpower and vocational training colleges to provide them with a wide variety of educational services such as labs, educational equipment etc.

COVERSTORY

dealing with metals, where the prices are volatile, managing metal prices is an additional challenge which we face.”

Sajid Ali, General Manager – IT, Oman Cables Industry Bahwan IT was part of the National PC Initiative (NPC) of the government to give personal computers to various families, schools and teachers. IITC has also worked closely with a lot of education institutions such as SQU, Ministry Education, and Ministry of Higher Education, to provide infrastructure services, networks and other products. It has conducted specialised training for faculties. In the near future, the company is looking to explore areas such as smart schools in Oman.

ensures IT alignment with business, and ensures that technology is used at its best to help the business, but is very rare.” Baby Sam reveals that his company intends to develop vertical solutions in the areas of manufacturing and construction as these industries are expected to see a big leap in the years to come. Bahwan IT also supports various manufacturing companies in Sohar. It is giving the complete hardware and software services to Oman Refinery.

Aligning IT with business On the manufacturing front, while production is going digital across the world, Oman has still a long way to go to catch up with the global trend. “The manufacturing sector in Oman is not adapting to the latest technologies and innovation compared to other countries in the world,” says Sajid Ali. “I am surprised to see that in many companies either an IT department does not exist, or even if it does, it is seen as a PC and printer repair shop. The idea of having an IT department which is part of the corporate setup,

September 2012

Sajid Ali explains that the challenges faced by manufacturing companies are much more than a typical trading or service organisation. “Besides having typical challenges like retaining customers, increasing marketshare, maintaining competitive edge, etc, we have to understand that in a manufacturing company, profits are made and lost in the plant, hence additional challenges such as optimising the utilisation of man, machine and material comes into the picture. Additionally, since we are

Oman Cables uses some advanced technological solutions to manage these challenges. The ERP solution comprising sales, procurement, warehouse, finance, quality, maintenance and production management solution gives insight into what is going on in the enterprise, and the accurate information it gives help take timely decisions. Specific cable design software helps the company in designing a wellengineered, optimum design of a cable which serves the customer requirement at an optimum cost. The MES (Manufacturing Execution System) solution, which is currently under implementation, will give the company ‘live’ insight on eﬃciencies of machines, work in progress etc. The shop floor control solutions allow the company to capture plant activities regarding an order directly at the machine level, thus avoiding delay in the capture of information on the floor; and hence the information available to the decision makers is nearly ‘live”.

Upbeat potential As Oman is fast catching up in the ICT sweepstakes, it promises big business opportunities for the companies. As Vakalapudi expects, the US-Oman free trade agreement, which came into effect in January 2009, has provided many direct and indirect benefits for the ICT sector beyond the direct relaxation of barriers to trade. However, many companies from UAE and other GCC countries opening up their oﬃces in Oman have triggered some price wars in the local market. Although they may not eat into the business of established players with proven track record to a great extent, they are seeking to win the projects by hook or by crook. For all these imponderables, Oman still continues to be an attractive IT destination for local, regional and international players and therefore its prospects are bright to emerge as a regional powerhouse.

CLOSEUP

By Dr Jasim Husain Ali

Global leaders in petroleum resources The six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council is the undisputed global leader in energy resources, a fact that should provide comfort to many stakeholders

he new edition of BP Statistical Review of World Energy offered some surprises concerning the oil production of GCC counties at large. Amongst others, Saudi Arabia has overtaken Russia as the leading oil exporter in the world in 2011. Traditionally, Russia led the world in terms of oil output with Saudi Arabia serving as the undisputed largest oil exporter. At the moment, the kingdom enjoys supremacy in both production and exporting of oil. However, Saudi Arabia has given way to Venezuela with respect to the amount of proven oil reserves. Saudi Arabia alone accounted for 13.2 per cent of total oil output in the world in 2011 against 12.8 per cent of Russia. The other leading oil producers were the US, Iran and China by virtue of accounting for 8.8 per cent, 5.2 per cent and 5.1 per cent, respectively. In spite of their notable production levels, both the US and China stand out for being leading key oil importers to meet domestic demand.

The author is an eminent economist and Member of Parliament, Bahrain (jasim.husain@gmail.com)

September 2012

In retrospect, Russia and Saudi Arabia accounted for 12.9 per cent and 12 per cent of global oil output in 2010, respectively. The change serves as testimony of Saudi Arabia’s willingness to compensate the international oil market from disruption of output elsewhere such as Libya in 2011. The revolution in

Libya disrupted normal flow of oil for several months, but Saudi Arabia in particular came to the rescue. In fact, major oil importers look up to Saudi Arabia to make up for possible disruption to the international oil market caused by sanctions imposed by the US and EU on Iran, the world’s fourth largest oil producer. And much to the delight of Saudi Arabia’s treasury, the tension over Iran’s nuclear programme helps keeping oil prices relatively high, thereby providing an added reason for steady output. Understandably, developments in the petroleum sector are paying off in terms of ensuring substantial additional revenues. Against this backdrop, Bloomberg has projected a notable 4.8 per cent real inflation in Saudi Arabia’s economy in 2012. Within the GCC economies, only the GDP of Qatar outgrows that of Saudi

The GCC region particularly matters to the well-being of petroleum business given the production and exporting capabilities

Arabia. However, Qatar is noted for going on spending spree as part of efforts to prepare the country for World Cup 2022.

Oman’s oil output Happily, steady rise on oil output and production capabilities are not limited to major producers like Saudi Arabia but others as well, notably Oman. According to the June 2012 issue of BP Statistical Review of World Energy, the Sultanate’s oil production amounted to 715,000 barrels per day (bpd) in 2007 only to increase to 891,000 bpd in 2011. The performance partly reflects the development at Mukhaizna oil field. Looking back, Occidental of the US and its partners won a concession back in 2005 to develop the field after committing themselves to invest some $2bn, as part of efforts to increase Mukhaizna’s production to 150,000 bpd. Clearly, the innovative production sharing agreements are paying off well.

Oil reserves Nevertheless, a marginal change has occurred last year with regards to the location of proven oil reserves, with Venezuela overtaking Saudi Arabia as the largest depositor of proven oil reserves. According to the same source, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia controlled 17.9 and 16.1 per cent of oil reserves in 2011, respectively. Nevertheless, Saudi Arabia enjoys

Largest oil producers Saudi Arabia 13.2 per cent Russia 12.8 per cent

share of natural gas reserves stood at 25 trillion cubic metre or 12 per cent that of the world. Only Russia and Iran possess more gas reserves than Qatar, namely 21.4 per cent and 15.9 per cent, respectively.

US 8.8 per cent Iran 5.2 per cent China 5.1 per cent

global leadership in both output and export of crude oil. Still, several other GCC countries are noted for enjoying relatively strong deposits of global oil reserves, namely 6.1 per cent in the case of Kuwait and 5.9 per cent for the UAE. Collectively, GCC countries control 494 billion barrels or almost 30 per cent of total proven oil reserves in the world, more so than any other entity. In fact, GCC states hold about 42 per cent of total reserves of Opec cartel, which includes oil giants of Venezuela and Iran. The GCC region particularly matters to the well-being of petroleum business given the production and exporting capabilities. This partly explains the global interest in maintaining peace and security in this part of the world.

Enormous gas deposits Apart from oil, GCC states are noted for having significant gas reserves. According to BP’s publication, Qatar’s

But Qatar serves as the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by boosting a record 77 million tonnes per year in 2011. Qatar’s LNG clients include Japan, South Korea, India, Spain, the UK and the US, to name a few. Key international energy sources consider Qatar as the major contributor of growth in LNG shipments in 2011. Yet, Qatari authorities have decided to apply brakes on further increases of LNG output in order to consolidate gains from existing output levels. Certainly, Qatari authorities cannot overlook some fundamental constraints including weak economic growth in EU countries and the notable fallout of Greek’s debt problem. Still, other bearings on gas consumption relate to purported belief of relatively high gas prices, warm weather and growth of renewable energy sources. Altogether, GCC member states Saudi Arabia and Qatar are world players in the export of oil and gas, respectively, something that provides comfort to concerned stakeholders like consuming nations and oil traders is the fact that they are willing to adjust output if and when needed.

Tradition prepared her, ([FHOOHQFH GHĂ&#x20AC;QHV KHU

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AUTOMOTIVE

STRONG

Performance The newly launched Phantom Series II has subtle visual refreshments with extensive technology upgrades, says Geoff Briscoe, Regional Director, Middle East, Africa and Latin America at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in a conversation with Akshay Bhatnagar. Excerpts

In the Middle East region, Rolls-Royce had a good year in 2011 and the upswing has continued in the first half of this year also. How comfortable or challenging it is for you to move in as the Regional Director for Middle East with such a great performance by the company in the recent past? It’s definitely a great time to join the region for couple of reasons. We are blessed that it is still a growing market. We are up by 22 per cent this year already and the growth is not going to subside as the demand by our customers is continuing to grow in the region. It is a nice time to be here! We are happy that we have a strong stable market here. Bentley grew by close to 48 per cent during the same period in the region. Does it mean that Rolls-Royce has not been able to optimally utilise the business growth opportunities in the region? I don’t agree with that. Bentley has grown at a faster rate than us in the region because their base is very low. We are not really competing with Bentley. We sell far higher number of cars compared to total Bentley sales in the region. We are very strong in this market and very happy with that position. In fact, it is the strongest in relation to Bentley in rest of the world. Do you think higher sales in top end luxury car segment indicate strong signals of global economic recovery? I wish the rebound is there for the real. In the Middle East, we can definitely see it as reflected in our growth. But it is quite a challenge in Europe and I’m not talking about just the auto sector but other industries as well. When Europe sneezes, other markets catch cold. The US

September 2012

is a different matter as there are definite signs that the economy is emerging again and starting to move. But no economist’s prediction can be trusted with complete confidence. For Rolls-Royce it is very important that these strong economies do well because being a real top end luxury product, we very much needs these economies to do well. If they are going to do well, we are going to enjoy a greater success than we are achieving now. Going back to the Middle East, there is a greater demand as each quarter goes by. What percentage of your sales in the region is bespoke? It is almost 100 per cent. It is diﬃcult to find a Rolls-Royce in the region that is not bespoke. In the Middle East, I always use the saying that customers are exporters of Rolls-Royce’s ideas. Their ideas are unique to the cars; they are unique to the area. There is no doubt that our cars in the region looks different due to the design combinations our customers choose. The Middle East is way, way ahead of rest of the world in it. With such a high degree of bespoke sales, what difference do you find in the customers in the region in terms of taste and lifestyle viz-a-viz rest of the world? Naturally, we are creatures of our environment. The weather patterns here are very different to rest of the world; everything is bright and colourful here and it is reflected in the cars as well. They are bright, colourful, strong and make a statement. The trim combinations, stitching, various design selections, are all driven by the customers. As I said they are exporters of ideas. Rest of the world takes ideas that come from the

AUTOMOTIVE

minds of the customers and dealers of the Middle East. With such a high involvement of the customers in designing the car, what is the unique role of the dealers like Al Jenaibi International Automobiles in the whole sales process? If I put in percentage terms it is half and half. I’m amazed by the creativity of the dealers here. Before we launch a car, we might ask the dealer to come up with a design for a new series. And some of the themed cars they come up with are stories. They are so passionate about developing a theme, developing a story. We do that in any case of course. We have our designers working on all sorts of things for the Middle East. But there is no better invention than the inventions done here. And our dealers definitely play a role here as they develop their own cars, their own stories and when they are with a customer in the showroom, they are so passionate because it is their own story. It is not something that Rolls-Royce has come up with necessarily. It is their special story and they love telling them. That’s how and why they sell Rolls-Royce which makes us what we are today in the region. Our dealer network plays a big, big part in our success story in the Middle East. What is the essence of the newly launched Phantom series II? As we are a low volume car company at the top end of the luxury goods, we have the ability to really listen to our customers and hear what they have to say to us. During the launch of Phantom Series II in Oman, I’m going to meet and listen to 20-30 of our customers. Our customers know more about the cars than we know most of the time. They are with it most of the time and so passionate about it. So they told us that they don’t want a radical change in the way the car looks. They said the look is stunning, stay with it; make the necessary evolutionary changes and get the technology right by bringing all the latest technologies in the car. We listened to our customers and made the changes to come up with Phantom Series II.

September 2012

As we are a low volume car company at the top end of the luxury goods, we have the ability to really listen to our customers and hear what they have to say to us Can you take us through some of the key visual and mechanical modifications in Series II? As I said before, sophisticated but subtle visual refreshments have been introduced both on the exterior and interior of the car while extensive, under-the-skin technology upgrades have been introduced. On the exterior front, the thoroughly modern front of Phantom Series II remains striking and artistically elegant. Above the redesigned front bumpers, we have introduced new, cutting-edge rectangular LED headlights with curve light functionality. Phantom Series II is the first car in the world to offer full LED headlights as standard equipment. In terms of looks, don’t you think the second series of Phantom has gained more resemblance towards Ghost? I don’t agree with it. Phantom is the king of cars. There is a gap between Phantom II and Ghost and it is intentional. They are very different cars and have very different buyers. They haven’t got closer. They stay exactly where they should be. Going back to your previous question, on the mechanical side, the ultra silent, 12-cylinder engine remains unchanged and is now married to a new 8-speed automatic gearbox which enhances drive dynamics and maintains the serene, effortless Rolls-Royce ride comfort. We have also redesigned and modernised the Phantom’s driver interface. Every model in the range now benefits from new driver assistance systems, such as; the satellite navigation and information system, now with a larger

monitor for enhanced convenience and functionality. Front, rear and topview camera systems are also new additions. What are your expectations from it in the region in term of sales? Phantom has been successful in the region any way. It is definitely one of the strongest markets in the world. For Series II, we already have many preliminary orders at this stage which is a very good sign that we are going to see a good double-digit growth from the car. You have a new design director in place. What is the brief to him? I’m not in a position to answer this question. What I can say is that the passion among our design team is staggering. They live and breathe the brand every moment of their life. The design centre is buzzing with lot of action and I’m sure there will be consistency in our design strategy despite the change. What’s the next plan of Rolls-Royce in terms of the launch of a new model or a further upgrade of say Ghost? Of course, there are always new models in the future; otherwise we wouldn’t have a future. The customers want to see change as I said before. Our lifecycle is much longer than a normal car lower down the scale. We will launch new models in time. I won’t talk about them now. We are always full of surprises; we want to stay that way. We are done with our planning cycle for the next 5-10 years. We know exactly what we are doing. Are you working on a sportier and faster car? I think there is always a danger in trying to go one particular way or the other. We are Rolls-Royce. Ghost is a sportier model and Phantom was always intended to be the way it is. So we’ve already done that in a way and our intention is never to proliferate the brand. If we do that, we have too many cars out there, we cease to be exclusive. That would be a wrong way to go. I think we’ve got the right mix now. What we will do in the future, you will hear about that in the coming years.

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12:50:58 PM

BYINVITATION

By Manjish Deb

Data Leak – a lurking threat It is essential for everyone to understand the importance of Data for an organisation and to take ownership for its health and safety

arol Wood, a student of University of Virginia was surfing the internet when she suddenly found her social security number (SSN) along with several other confidential data online. She checked and there were similar confidential data available of around 350 more students including their exam transcripts, SSN, credit screening information etc. Around 150 million customers’ data were stolen and made available online from Shanghai Roadway D&B Marketing Services. More than 465,000 records including driver’s license, social security numbers etc were stolen by a government employee from Georgia Technology Authority. Similarly, around 1,85,000 records were stolen from San Jose Medical Group including SSN, credit card information etc. The list is long and growing at an amazing pace. And all these cases involve someone from inside leaking information, intentionally or unintentionally.

The author is Senior Manager- Enterprise Solution, Infoline

September 2012

In a study done by an independent institute which identified 43 companies who had suffered data leaks last year, the total cost of coping with the consequences rose to $6.6 mn per leak, with 84 per cent repeat offenders. Especially for the healthcare and financial services sector, the customer discontinued the association with companies that failed to secure sensitive data.

Let’s analyse how and why a data leakage occurs. A few other ways of losing the data via leaks are: • Lax, improper or missing access control systems containing sensitive data, from back-end databases and servers to mobile computers • Insecure transmission of personal identifiable and other restricted data • Insecure and improper destruction of information, encompassing physical locations (dumpsters) and electronic media (laptops and backups) • Lack of separation of duties and access controls on databases and other shared systems • Doing business with providers that allow data leakage (HR sending sensitive information to do background check)

How to prevent Data Leaks: Some important questions you should ask your IT staff or IT provider are: • Are there any policies and procedures in place to ensure that the organisations data is not “leaking” outside of the network? • Is there any technology in place to monitor these policies? • Is there any way of preventing employees from taking corporate data or sending it to unauthorised parties? • Is our ‘Data Loss Prevention’ policy meeting any compliance

requirements we might have (HIPAA, ISMS, GLBA, SOX, etc).

Data Leak Sources

• Are we aware of where our most confidential data is being held? • Are we able to audit users’ access to our confidential data? Primary concern for Data Loss Prevention is to understand what the value of the data is to the organisation and how everyone is responsible for ensuring its ‘health and safety’. In essence, this can only be achieved through a comprehensive understanding of the risk facing your organisation’s data, and educating the people who handle or access it. Training and educating should be mandatory for all people who come into contact with it and this is only the first step. This may appear like a basic concept, but it is one that is often neglected. This is the primary reason for data breaches. Data is any company’s most valuable asset and ensuring that it is protected against ‘internal’ threats is just as important as securing it against outside threats. For most companies, data loss is largely attributed to employees. According to a recent Gartner report: • One in every 400 messages contains confidential data • One in every 50 network files is wrongly exposed • Four out of five companies have lost data on laptops • Half of all companies have lost data on USB drives

Without a comprehensive security structure of your network, you may not even know if a security breach occurs. A Data Leak Prevention system will help you to plug-in the loop holes that you may have in your system. A DLP solution will not only alert you of any breaches, but prevent any devious activities of all the users so that you are aware of activities and take preventive measures. A few things to look for in a Data Loss Prevention solution are:

• More than 52 per cent of CIOs (Chief Information Oﬃcers) believe data leakage is a top priority in their security spending

Where does the product look for data across your network? Does it find sensitive data just travelling your network, on your database and file servers, or does it look at data on local desktops?

A common proverb says: Prevention is better than Cure. It’s important not to wait until a breach occurs to implement data leakage solutions.

Can the product search for data without any endpoint agents installed, or does it require a client to be installed on the end-points?

Can the Data Loss Prevention agents accomplish other security-related things on the endpoints? Some vendors can turn off USB connectors to block someone with a thumb drive from walking away with all of your customer data in their pocket. Others can control which applications can and can’t be run on your workstations, laptops or even tablets. What protocols can be blocked or analysed? Just protocols involving e-mail (SMTP, POP and IMAP)? What about file transfer technologies or instant messaging? What kind of data can be saved by the users on their end-points? Can they save information like credit card information, SSN, Telephone numbers, etc on their desktops? How hard is it to create – and then change – the Data Loss Prevention rules? A DLP tool is only as good as its ability

BYINVITATION

to have rules updated easily over time. Can your IT staff (or outsourced provider) easily update rules as new threats are identified or company policies updated? What happens when a rule is broken? Can you figure out who violated the policy, where the offending information is stored, and what kinds of automated responses can be sent? Does the product come with predefined templates to make all of this easier? Is the content analysis portioning a separate or integrated piece of the product? In some cases, you need several different products to be installed to enable a complete solution. What kinds of reports are available, and are they easy to understand? Does the product offer any real-time reporting capabilities, and how flexible are these reports?

How to achieve a successful DLP implementation: Identify key participants – Assemble those that should be involved internally when you identify data loss. Participants may include IT, HR, and operations employees. Identify the individuals and meet with them to work out what situations they will need to be involved in. Develop a notification process – Do you have processes ready if a regulated data breach occurs? Who will be notified? Is your legal or compliance team ready to meet requirements such as breach notification laws? Fix broken business and weak processes – Assume that you will find broken business processes, like automated file transfers to partners in clear text over the internet instead of encrypted or over private line.

September 2012

A DLP system is not designed to solve the part of data leakage problem space that is related to security threats like a virus/trojan attack,

Create a plan for handling theft – Talk with HR to establish a process if you uncover insider theft. Give HR a heads up and involve them in the roll-out. The insider may be at a senior level, so consider that as well.

• A report sorted by the type of data or by policy that was violated • Summary reports for your CSO

Plan roll-out stages – It’s important to plan your roll-out in stages rather than trying to attach the problem all at once. • Select data and policies to be implemented in stages • Roll-out and test your policies in a monitor only mode, to set a baseline. • Decide when you will have the solution, notify end users and what you expect of them.

How can DLP help you?

Set a timeline for incident resolution – Set goals for making sure incidents are handled in a timely manner:

A DLP system primarily helps enforce ‘acceptable use’ policies and processes for an enterprise. They are not designed to solve the part of data leakage problem space that is related to security threats like a virus/ trojan attack; it will not stop hackers coming into your system; it will not stop phishing attempts on your corporate e-mail system. So, it is not an information security data leakage issue that the DLP solution is trying to solve.

• First level review of all incidents within X amount of time

Hence the DLP solutions help mitigate following risks:

Establish the response team and workflow – Map out your incident handling and resolution process, as a flowchart. Who will be on the incident handling team?

• Resolve all high severity incidents within Y amount of time • Close all incidents within Z amount of time (resolving incidents within two hours) Establish reporting and automate – How are you going to track things? Decide what reports you’ll need to have and who should get them. There should be reports for: • Incidents created • Incidents closed • Open incidents status – by age, severity, owner

• Identifying insecure business processes. For example, use of FTP for transporting PHI data • Accidental data disclosure by employees. For example, employee sending unencrypted email containing PHI data • Intentional data leakage by employees. For example, disgruntled employees stealing data or an employee leaving the company with sensitive data • Stopping users storing and distributing sensitive information in their desktops or mobile devices.

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INTERVIEW

What are the big trends in a changing world order that investors need to be aware of while making their choices? The biggest theme for our investors is that a new world order is emerging. Many people simplify it by describing it as the rise of the East and the decline of the West; that might be happening, but this is not what is driving it. What is driving it is a combination of demographic, technological and scientific, economic, ecological and social change. When you put these five factors together then the real story about this emerging world order becomes clear. It has never been so important to understand the real idea of sustainable development and when I say sustainable development it means preparing your society at a national level, business level and at the individual level for the next 1,000 years and that implies that you just cannot cut corners. That means you cannot turn a blind eye on factors that have an adverse impact on nature and other social stakeholders. Countries and companies need to run in a first class sustainable way and that is what is going to determine whether the next decade is going to belong to India or to China or to Brazil or Oman. Taking this a step further also means that a new investment paradigm is emerging, because as an investor you need to embrace the future and not run behind it, you need to pick companies and states on the basis of the sustainability criteria – does a company run a sustainable business model while also factorising other fundamentals like whether it is attractively valued etc. That’s the difference between today and ten years ago.

A paradigm shift Burkhard P Varnholt, Chief Investment Oﬃcer, Bank Sarasin & Co talks to Mayank Singh about the rise of a new economic order and how to negotiate this change

September 2012

Investors are told to choose from companies spreading across countries and the same holds true for various asset classes. Does this make investing more diﬃcult for a lay investor? This is one area that we have invested in for the last 20 years providing research, advice and investment solutions for the long term. We invest in companies that invest for the long term and run sustainable businesses. You are right, investing was always diﬃcult and it was always advisable to have a good trustworthy investment advisor; in a new order one requires a different sort of advice. As the investment paradigm changes it is also important that one challenges ones investment advisor on

whether he understands this paradigm and whether he can provide the depth and breath for it. Where should one invest in a new order as there are a lot of contradictory views emanating. Some say that the US is recovering slowly, Eurozone seems to be in crisis, China is slowing down and India has its own set of problems? The world economy is in a better shape than what people claim that it is. The US is clearly turning around and there is no question about that, China is not in free fall as it is just shifting its growth model from being export-led to being domestic driven. Foxconn has recently had to double salaries for its 500,000 employees; now that will cause some sort of a growth slowdown in the short term, but these 500,000 employees will also go out and buy the iPods that they produce in the medium term. So there are two sides to every story. Europe is following and there is nothing new about that as that has always been the case. When I look at the world I think that all the analysts have been extremely bearish in the beginning of this year, but what I see is that the world economy has never been a perfect place. This year will be a Goldilocks year for investors because of a combination of factors – an improvement in the economic picture, no increase in interest rates plus you have an enormous wall of liquidity which represents investors’ scepticism, as they say on Wall Street every bull market has to climb the high wall of worry. The wall of worry is the wall of money. So you really have an ideal year in 2012 that favours risk takers and equity investors. The year will end in solid double digit returns for equity investors. In terms of regions, emerging markets are cheaper than the US and they have better growth momentum. Europe is very unloved and that makes it cheaper and also quite attractive. Add to that the sustainability factor when you come down to stock selection and you get a world class portfolio. What is your take on emerging markets and where do you think countries in the GCC, China, Brazil

Emerging markets are cheaper than the US and they have better growth momentum. Europe is very unloved and that makes it cheaper and also quite attractive and India are headed towards? Oman and the Gulf states are an attractive buying opportunity for both domestic and international investors. The catalysts for strong performance that I anticipate will be high oil prices and a global recovery that translates nicely into the GCC economies and my strong conviction is that the bottom of the real estate market is behind us and that the supply demand imbalances are narrowing. GCC markets have been underperformers compared to other emerging countries but that is one of the reasons why I find them to be attractive; they are at very cheap valuations and the companies which are being traded are very solid, so there are strong growth opportunities. If one were to talk about sectors then I would pick banks across the GCC region, as they have been the most unloved in the past year and they will benefit most from the turnaround. Apart from this one should be close to the oil and gas sector. China is not in free fall; the government explained this last year when they put out their five year plan. They are seeking to move towards a new economic model, which has been modelled after Scandinavian countries – one that is very inclusive, a social, free market economy, driven by innovation rather than cheap labour and one that will be based on domestic rather than external demand. It should be clear to everyone that such a shift does not come without friction. As China is facing a period of solid political tension and as it has one of the most powerful Central Banks in the world, the latter will use its full authority to see that the Chinese economy does not tank. It will

slow and there will be some collateral damage, but you will see domestic demand picking up. Brazil is as good as it has ever been; the great potential that Latin America enjoys is that as and when they open up their region to intra-market trade they can multiply their productivity. India is the most promising economy in the world as it has the most entrepreneurial genes, if only it did not have a government that keeps shooting itself in its foot. India is the biggest democracy in the world but it also has more red tape and regulation. When it can firmly deal with them, when it gets there, India will overtake China in terms of growth and GDP. A lot has been written about commodities and their continuing good run. How should investors approach this market? Commodities have only one way to go – higher for longer and it is driven by arguments both on the supply and the demand side. Let’s start on the supply side. The great narrative that oil countries like Saudi Arabia and other have put out is that the more you invest in your upstream exploration production infrastructure, the more oil you produce. This has been more of fiction rather than fact, because despite huge investments these countries are producing, not more than what was being produced 10 years ago. The supply side suffers from a number of bottlenecks in terms of availability or access and the demand side continues to grow and it will continue to grow exponentially, because of demographic and economic growth. Oil prices will go to $150 and above in the next 12 months. Investors are advised to remain invested (at least 10 per cent of their portfolio) in a diversified commodity fund at all times. Gold will go to $2,500 in the next two years as it has become cheaper and thereby more attractive. Gold is not a reflection on inflation but a reflection on fiscal irresponsibility and that is something that will remain with us for the next couple of years as governments in the West muddle their way through the mess that they have got themselves into.

TOURISM

The aim of this award is to celebrate individual excellence in the tourism industry and reward people who are often the unsung heroes. It is also an effort by Travelex to give back something to the tourism industry in Oman on the occasion of completing 10 years in the Sultanate.

Graham Flannery, Director Business Development, Travelex Europe and Middle East speaks to OER about the forthcoming Travelex Oman Tourism Ambassador Awards

Do you have any partners for the ‘Travelex Oman Tourism Ambassador Awards’. If yes, what kind of value are they bringing to the table? We are very lucky that the Travelex Oman Tourism Ambassador Awards has got such positive support from our partners – the Ministry of Tourism, Omran, Muscat Municipality, Oman Airport Management Company and HH Sayyid Faisal Al-Said. Our partners helped us to shape the award categories and criteria and will each have a representative on the judging panel. What is the criteria on which the candidates will be judged for the award? The judges will select winners based on the following criteria: • Personal initiative – giving additional advice/recommendations to tourists • Going the extra mile – service over and above the normal requirements • Friendliness – a winning smile and positive personality • Delivering on the promise • How the individual promotes Muscat, Oman and their local region • Knowledge and information • Innovation and originality

he Travelex Oman Tourism Ambassador Awards Ceremony, a black tie event is to be held in November 2012 in Oman. The call for entries will take place in early September 2012, which will leave enough time for the

September 2012

panel of judges to assess and critique the finalists. The function will be attended by 200 guests and the awards are expected to become an annual event acknowledging and felicitating successful ‘Ambassadors” for tourism in Oman.

What are the main objectives behind instituting such an award in Oman and how is it going to contribute to the Sultanate’s tourism growth? Tourism makes up a significant proportion of Oman’s economy and its popularity, but there are some key people and companies that truly have a positive impact on the country’s tourism sector. Travelex, as an international company, has a responsibility to give back to the communities in which we operate. In Oman, it’s timely that the government has outlined that tourism is a critical part of its growth strategy and is

aligned with our own growth agenda. As part of the tourism industry ourselves, we felt that these awards are an ideal way for us, alongside our partners, to honour those who are leading the way. Does Travelex have a similar award elsewhere in the region and is the same being replicated in the Sultanate? Not for now. Oman is our first venture into these awards but there is the potential for us to roll similar initiatives out in other GCC countries. We chose Oman, because it was the first country we entered in the Middle East back in 2003, it is a truly beautiful place with equally beautiful people, and because of the clear strategic vision the government has set for the industry. How do you want to build on this campaign/ award in the future and what are your plans to promote these ambassadors in the society? Our intention was to set something up this year, as we approach our tenth anniversary in Oman, which would have the potential to grow each year. The encouragement we have had from the industry and particularly from our partners, has been beyond our expectations, so we are absolutely thrilled to get off to such a positive start. What we hope the awards will achieve is a level of reward and recognition for the ambassadors and the fantastic work they do. By giving them some exposure to the wider community, we hope this will encourage the rest of the industry to step things up a notch to further promote the tourism sector in Oman, both internally and externally. According to you, what kind of an impact does a strengthening Omani rial against the pound and the euro have on Oman tourism industry? While no one knows what will happen in the currency markets, we’d hope that the strengthening of the rial won’t adversely affect the inbound tourism market, particularly from the UK and Europe, against whose currencies the value of the rial has grown in the past year. What it does mean though

is that companies may need to think differently. It certainly will require all businesses to maintain competitive and stay focused on and ensure, in what are economically diﬃcult times in many parts of the world, that good value is still delivered. They will need to maintain their competitiveness to continue to attract the price-sensitive inbound tourists. However, if Oman continues to innovate its tourism product - as it has done - and invests in infrastructure - as it is doing with the construction of the new airport and road system – we believe that Oman will continue to attract an increasing number of tourists even if the rial continues to strengthen. In fact, despite the recent gains, passenger numbers in the past twelve

AWARDS CATEGORIES Oman Tourism Ambassador of the Year y Overall prize for outstanding contribution to the tourism industry in Oman Regional Ambassador Awards y Regional awards for the best individual from » » » »

Dhofar Muscat Region Batinah/Musandam Dakhaliya/Sharqiyah

Customer Service Award y Rewarding the individual who is judged to have been the best individual ambassador for tourism in their interaction with visitors Best Small Operator y Awarded to a tour company (less than 100 employees) who has consistently exceeded expectations Young Ambassador of the Year y Rewarding outstanding service by individuals aged 25 or younger Institutional Ambassador of the Year y Rewarding an organisation/hotel/ tourism attraction Sustainable Tourism Ambassador of the Year y Rewarding an individual or organisation who has demonstrated a conscious effort to deliver sustainable tourism

months have increased, is a testament to the attraction of the country. What are the challenges you are facing especially when travellers are much more likely to rely on credit/debit cards instead of buying currency in advance? We know that plastic has become a hugely popular method of payment for travellers in recent years, but despite this, there is currently more cash in circulation worldwide than there has been at any point in history. As currency experts, we’d always advise customers to take at least some destination currency with them when they travel internationally. When you arrive late at night, there may not be a currency exchange store open, ATMs may not be readily available so it’s always good to have some local currency on hand for incidentals like a drink or taxi. Like Oman’s tourism industry, Travelex also has its own growth strategy, which has seen it achieve record results in what have been some of the most challenging times the global travel market has ever seen. We have been innovating and embracing new technologies, which has seen huge growth from our ATM business. Online sales of currency can make up to 30 per cent of turnover in our developed markets. We recently launched our first new website in the region in Bahrain, with Oman’s first online currency reservation service due by the year end. Further, Travelex is one of the largest sellers of prepaid currency cards globally. We hope to bring these products to the Middle East very soon. Can you give us a brief about Travelex Oman and its operation? Travelex Oman currently has six stores, which we have run since 2003 in conjunction with our joint venture partner – four in Muscat International Airport, and another two in the Ghubrah and Seeb areas. We are due to open a new location in Barka later in September and will continue to look for new locations both in the capital and other regions of Oman. We provide foreign exchange, cash-to-cash and bank transfer solutions.

ECONOMY

By Oliver Cornock

Oil revenues set to reinvigorate private sector The enhancement of the private sector’s role as well as increasing education and skills levels can be fuelled by the hydrocarbons sector for some time to come

The author is Regional Editor, Oxford Business Group

September 2012

he Omani economy is enjoying something of an oil revenue windfall. According to the Ministry of Finance, revenues for the first six months of 2012 were $19.1bn, up from $14.1bn for the corresponding period in 2011 – representing a 35 per cent increase.

This is newsworthy in itself, but it is how the Sultanate is choosing to spend this welcome cash-injection that reveals the government’s priorities and the future course for the country. And it’s jobs that are top of the agenda. Indeed, oil revenue is bringing about a redoubling of efforts to curb unemployment and, more specifically, a re-examination of how the private sector can generate more jobs.

has continued to closely monitor production levels of its members to avoid an oversupply of oil in the market (implementing an overall group output limit, but stopping short of setting individual country production quotas), Oman has raised oil production, from 878,800 bpd in the first half of 2011 to 915,000 bpd over the same period in 2012. Meanwhile, oil exports rose 1.9 per cent to 133.6 million barrels in the six-month period, according to the Ministry of Oil and Gas.

Difficult to predict

As the figures indicate, the oil industry is alive and well in many ways, and hydrocarbons still account for around three-quarters of Oman’s budget income. And given the market for oil is currently so strong, one might wonder whether plans for economic diversification are quite so essential.

But this continues to mean the economy remains beholden to crude oil price fluctuations. In fact, the 2012 budget had anticipated a deficit of $3.1bn for the year, (with expenditure of $26bn and revenues of $22.9bn), with the conservative assumption that oil prices would hover at around $75 per barrel, according to HE Darwish bin Ismael al-Balushi, Minister Responsible for Financial Affairs. Oil prices may be up at the moment, but they are diﬃcult to predict, let alone rely on.

Certainly, the price of oil so far this year has exceeded expectations; figures released from the Ministry of Finance show Oman sold its oil at an average price of $115 per barrel in the first five months of 2012. Furthermore, Oman has in many senses benefited from not being a member of OPEC - its non-member oil producer status gives it greater control of its revenue stream, and has allowed it to take full advantage of the high oil prices. Whereas OPEC

For now, the windfall revenue gains are more than suﬃcient to cover the additional expenditure resulting from the recent salary revision, which included a directive from Sultan Qaboos bin Said mandating the creation of 50,000 jobs, and will generate surpluses for the year ahead. But the authorities are keen to ensure that economic diversification – part of the Sultanate’s long-stated development strategy – remains on

track so that in the short term they are not overly exposed when and if oil prices fall, and in the longer term are prepared for a future when oil resources are depleted. Getting Omanis into work is central to the Sultanate’s development and diversification programme to move the economy towards nonhydrocarbon revenue. Attention is therefore turning to achieving more sustainable growth, and the government has made it clear that the priority will be job creation in the non-hydrocarbons sector. In August this year, the Ministry of Finance announced plans to spend an additional $1bn from its oil windfall to create jobs for its citizens over the next 12 months (although specific details were not available at the time of writing). In this way, the government’s recent moves have linked the fortunes of the job market with the performance of oil. To tackle unemployment, the state knows that the public sector alone cannot meet the high demand for jobs. In August, the Council of Ministers urged the private sector to join hands in the execution of key development projects, a process that will make the private sector more visible in the public eye and “help in generating more employment and steer the growth wheels.” Moreover, it is expected that this new drive to tap into the private sector will create new opportunities for public-private partnerships (PPPs), particularly in areas such as housing, healthcare, electricity and water, and infrastructure, which given the predicted fast growth rate of the population will likely see increasing demand in the years ahead.

Expanding private sector However, the success of such measures is far from guaranteed, and will depend heavily on the private sector meeting the government

OIL REVENUES During the first six months of 2012:

$19.1bn

During the first six months of 2011:

$14.1bn

Average oil price in the first five months of 2012: $115 per barrel

halfway. Certainly, the state has done much to expand the private sector by addressing the so-called “skills gap” among young Omanis, introducing programmes to encourage entrepreneurship and business skills as part of its drive to reduce youth unemployment. The College of Banking and Financial Studies, for example, has been successful in preparing young Omanis to replace expatriates in banking and financial institutions. Indeed, the Central Bank of Oman’s has estimated that more than 84 per cent of workers in the private sector are expats, who send home roughly RO2.774 billion per year in remittances. Moreover, obtaining start-up capital has also been made easier; last October, for example, Oman launched its first small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) Loan Guarantee Programme in an effort to bridge the gap between cash-rich local financiers and potential young Omani entrepreneurs. The loan programme provides 80 per cent guarantees for SME loans up to $650,000, with interest rates ranging from 3.4 per cent to 4.3 per cent, and is part of the Omani government’s “Vision 2020” for a vibrant and diversified private sector and a generation of entrepreneurial Omanis who can serve as job creators in a postoil economy.

Concerns of young Omanis Yet skills, education and capital are only part of the problem. A recent

statement issued by the Council of Ministers acknowledged that while there are already a number of jobs available in the private sector, there is reluctance on the part of young Omanis to fill these posts. Shift-work, extended hours, less job security and the fewer number of public holidays are some of the reasons Omani citizens turn down private sector jobs. A recent report by the Shura Council said that of 53,000 people who resigned from their private sector jobs in 2011 nearly half moved to work in the public sector. The flip side of some private sector managers’ complaints about Omanis being reluctant to take up existing jobs is that private businesses are not making the kinds of wholesale reforms necessary if they are to play a significant role in getting Omanis into work. The same report by the Shura Council found that the large number of resignations from the private sector reflects the frustration and discontent of Omani workers due to allegedly low wages amid the rising cost of living; some 48 per cent of private sector employees’ salaries do not exceed RO200 per month. So not only must the private sector expand to take advantage of the labour-intensive industries the government has earmarked for growth, it must also see an improvement in job offerings relative to the public sector. Increased investment in job creation, as well as a recognition of the preference for public sector employment and efforts to increase the attractiveness of the private sector, should go some way to addressing the situation. However, there is no quick fix. The broader economic development strategy the Sultanate has embarked on is by its very nature longterm, and therefore it is to be hoped that the enhancement of the private sector’s role as well as increasing education and skills levels can be fuelled by the hydrocarbons sector for some time to come.

ENVIRONMENT

Towards a green and healthy workplace Hasan Juma Backer company has incorporated green practices in its headquarters building and residential cum commercial building in Wadi Kabir

he residential cum commercial complex of Hassan Juma Backer (HJB) has been built with the intention to provide a superior work place and better quality of residences for the company’s workforce. Each and every feature of the building is relevant to green concepts. A spacious and healthy work place has enhanced efficiency of the workforce. Visitors to this office complex have admired the features and are sure to take away ideas for their own projects. The main contribution to Oman is energy savings, reduction in waste, time savings and ultimately making a healthy community. HJB has adopted modern technologies to build an eco-friendly building complex by identifying green concepts and design features and incorporated them keeping in mind the natural habitat, light pollution, energy conservation. The office has adopted full online documentation system. The concept of electronically signing the contracts is also on the anvil. This way paper usage has been reduced drastically. The external walls of the main building have been constructed with composite

September 2012

insulated material which dissipates the sun’s heat thereby maintaining the ambient temperature inside the room for energy savings. Working in an environment with poor air quality can lead to harmful side effects that range from eye and throat irritation to longterm effects like respiratory disease and cancer. The open atrium gives natural circulation of air and reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. The air conditioning system is VRV type which provides positive fresh air pressure in every nook and cranny of the oﬃce area. All this has helped in creating a healthy breathing atmosphere inside the building complex.

Naturally happy It has been found out that having natural day lighting is always the greenest way to go ahead. Plus, there’s also a growing body of evidence to suggest that workers in buildings with high levels of natural light are happier and more productive than those more reliant on artificial light. Provision for natural lighting facility wherever possible has been made thus saving power energy.

The company has been able to minimise the day-to-day utilisation of resources like water and paper thereby protecting the environment from pollution, preventing ozone depletion and saving trees. Another interesting initiative has been to use eco-friendly fonts (preferably Garamond) for optimisation of printing ink; reducing the print area margins, selecting the correct size of the paper, previewing before printing and alert message before printing preventerroneous prints thereby saving paper, ink and energy. Most of the staff members have been provided with accommodation in the same premises where the oﬃce is located while others have been giving accommodation in the nearby vicinity thereby reducing the load on commuting system. The sewage and waste water of the building is collected in underground water retaining structure (holding tank) and sent to the Sewage Treatment Plant for recycling. No soak pits are in use thereby preventing any subsoil pollution. Level monitoring instrument is installed in the holding tank by which the scheduling of the dewatering agency is ensured and spillage is avoided.

GOLFEVENT

Pro-action time! Muscat Hills Golf & Country Club, Oman, and BankDhofar are all set to host the 1st Pro-Am Golf Tournament in the Sultanate and OER is excited to be an integral part of the event as its media partner Tony Mahoney, CEO BankDhofar, and Muscat Hills Director of Golf Ray Stopforth showing the official tournament flag

uscat Hills Golf & Country Club has announced the launch of the Inaugural BankDhofar Pro-Am Tournament. The Pro-Am event will be held on Oman’s first grass championship golf course on November 7 and 8, 2012. This will be the first golf event featuring professional golfers to be staged in Oman. The event is expected to assist in the ongoing development of the game of golf domestically as well as increasing Oman’s growing reputation in the GCC Region as a first class golfing destination. The event hosts and organisers are anticipating this event as a stepping stone to larger professional golf events in the future Oman. “Organising and hosting such a high profiled event is part of our ongoing strategy to grow the game of golf in Oman and raise the profile of Oman as a great golf destination,” comments Ray Stopforth, Muscat Hills Director of Golf. BankDhofar Pro-Am Tournament will be played over 18 holes on November 8 in a Team alliance format, with the professionals also competing for individual honours. November 7 is dedicated for competitors practice and to enjoy a fun filled auction dinner in the evening. The field will be made up of 25 teams featuring a regionally based professional along with 3 amateur players in a team. The

BankDhofar Pro-Am prize fund is over RO1,000 and will be competed for by the professional players, while the amateurs will compete for team prizes. The launch of this high-profile event would not have been made possible without the sponsorship of BankDhofar, a leading bank in Oman. They have recognized the business values and social ethics in the game of golf and saw a great opportunity to communicate its services in front of the local golf business and community. Tony Mahoney, CEO BankDhofar commented, “We are delighted to participate in the 1st Pro-Am golf Tournament in the Sultanate of Oman. One of our strategic goals is to get more involved in the development of Omani youth. I believe by BankDhofar participating in this event we can spread the growth of the sport and hope that one day we will have an Omani on the professional tour circuit.”

Audi Oman is the other big sponsor who will support the 1st Pro-Am in Oman as a Gold sponsor and an Oﬃcial Carrier. Wattayah Motors, oﬃcial dealer of Audi in Oman, has already proven itself as a company supporting sporting events in Oman. After the successful Audi Quattro Cup in March 2012, the luxury car maker continues to promote the elite sport of golf. The company aims at supporting people who are pursuing their vision, in areas that provide fresh impetus. Additional sponsors of the event are Radisson Blu Hotel, Muscat – Hospitality Partner and Signature magazine as the luxury media partner and OER as the media partner. Everyone is looking forward to a successful and fun filled event. Join us - contact Muscat Hills Golf & Country Club on: +96898292580.

AUTOTALK

FUNCTION MEETS FLAIR

Chevrolet Malibu, the auto industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s longestrunning midsize nameplate, spanning 35 years and eight generations, continues to impress customers. Visvas Paul D Karra checks out the new 2013 Malibu 2.4L LT in a test drive 62

September 2012

SPECIFICATION SHEET Model Year: 2013 Engine Type: Petrol, Ecotec 4 Cylinder Inline DOHC VVT Engine Capacity: 2.4L Horsepower (HP/RPM): 170/ 5800 Torque (NM/RPM): 217/ 4500 Drive Train: Front Wheel Drive Steering: Tilt Wheel Brakes: 4 Wheel Disc & Anti-Lock Brake System (ABS) Overall Dimensions (LXWXH) MM: 4859 X 1842 X 1473 Wheel Base (MM): 2880 Wheels: 17” X 7” Aluminum Tyre Size: P225/55R17 Fuel Capacity: 57 LTRS

he all new 2013 Malibu has been crafted with uncompromising care and attention to detail and breathes quality and refinement. The vehicle comes in three variations, the 1LT, 2LT and LTZ. About 8.5 million Malibus have been produced in the US since its debut in 1964. The exterior of the new Malibu suggests tailored lines and fluid curves while the interior boasts a flowing dual cockpit emphasising harmonious and uninterrupted lines. With premium safety features as standard in all models, driving the new Malibu is a breeze. The vehicle is ideally suited for managers and businessmen who would love to add an American vehicle into their stable. Precisely crafted exterior design and styling gives Malibu an utterly flawless beauty. Premium quality materials (including acoustic laminated glass) combined with meticulous fit and finish result in body gaps as tight as 1 mm and a remarkable quiet ride. Sleek crisp lines flow into perfect curves, while a distinctive sail panel is incorporated into the rear profile to further accentuate the roofline. Malibu’s eminence in safety is amply illustrated by its five star frontal and side impact crash test rating, the highest possible. It is also a high achiever on the highway. The

exterior design of the all-new Malibu carries DNA from its sister vehicles, the Camaro and Corvette, to bring a sporty sensibility to the family sedan segment. Malibu’s dual-port grill, a signature of Chevrolet’s bold new look, is stylishly accented with chrome surrounds and a body colour bar. Other exterior design cues include Chevrolet’s projector HID headlamps, larger Chevrolet bow-tie badges front and rear, and new Camaro-inspired dual-element taillamps. The look is complemented by a range of large 16, 17 and 18-inch wheels. A wide stance, broad shoulders enabled by best-in-class width of 1,855 mm, and an integrated rear spoiler give the new Malibu an athletic posture and assertive appearance. The new Malibu has a 114 mm shorter wheelbase and 1,574 mm front and rear tracks that are more than 51 mm wider than the model it replaces.

Quiet ride The new Malibu offers nearly 113 L of additional interior volume, along with more shoulder and hip room than previous models and more usable trunk. It offers the quietest ride in its segment through the use of components that prevent tire, wind and road noise from entering the cabin. Components such as noise-reducing outside rearview mirrors, acoustic laminated front glass and noise-absorption pads are strategically placed to make the cabin quiet and improve the overall quality inside. Chassis control technologies include four-corner electronic stability control that incorporates full-function traction control, electronic brake force distribution, brake assist, and corner brake control. The new Malibu features a fuel-efficient and powerful four cylinder engine that complements its European-inspired driving characteristics. The Ecotec 2.4L dual overhead cam, fourcylinder engine with direct injection uses continuously variable valve timing to optimise performance, efficiency, and emissions. It produces 170 hp at 5800 rpm and 230 Nm of torque at 4600 rpm allowing it to reach 0-100 km/h in 10.2 seconds. The 2.4L is mated to a Hydra-Matic 6T40 six-speed automatic with features designed to enhance powertrain efficiency.

AUTO NEWS

FORD EXPEDITION AND FLEX SHOW THEIR MIGHT The Ford Expedition and Flex ranked on top of their segments in the recent J D Power and Associates’ 2012 APEAL Study, further emphasising their leadership in their respective categories. The Ford Expedition earned the top spot in the Large Crossover/ SUV Segment, beating out competitors in its segment. The

Ford Expedition offers flexible seating for eight, featuring the second-row CenterSlide seat and PowerFold third-row seat, as well as delivering the capability that customers demand with towing capacity of up to 9,200 lbs. The Ford Expedition also was an award winner in its segment this year, in the JD Power Initial Quality Study. The Ford Flex was ranked first among Medium Crossovers/SUVs.

GOLF GTI – A TRUE MODERN ICON The original Golf GTI was planned as a limited series of 5,000 cars. Since then – and five generations of GTI later – more than 1.7 million have been sold worldwide. The sharp dynamics, a responsive four-cylinder engine and driver involvement are still at the core of the Mark VI GTI. Yet it has evolved – the Mk VI is faster and more powerful than any standard GTI before it. However, the day-

September 2012

to-day usability of the GTI has not been forgotten and it is cleaner, safer and more efficient than ever before. An advanced 2.0-litre TSI engine producing 210hp, linked to a six-speed DSG gearbox, is at the heart of the GTI. Despite the immense power output, the GTI is assured of greater grip in all conditions thanks to the standard XDS electronic control of front wheel traction.

DODGE DURANGO PERFECT FOR FAMILY The 2012 Dodge Durango is one of the best family-oriented SUVs on the market today and Dhofar Automotive’s Ramadan promotion has raised the bar once again for its value in the seven-seat SUV segment. With its four-wheel independent suspension, near 50:50 weight distribution and responsive steering and handling, Durango has driving dynamics unlike what you typically find in a sport-utility vehicle (SUV). The new Dodge Durango’s distinctive bold Dodge design craftily houses a spacious three-row seating arrangement for seven-passengers.

Passengers will also feel materials that are soft to the touch and an interior that is refined with a functionality that gives owners a first-class experience. The Durango’s interior is also extremely comfortable for all three rows of passengers making it perfect for a long drives with the entire family. And with more than 30 storage areas, 28 seating configurations and a rear cargo area of nearly 85 cubic feet; there’s a surprising amount of interior flexibility. The Durango also features more than 45 safety features.

INDEPENDENCE AT ITS MOST BEAUTIFUL With the new CLS Shooting Brake, Mercedes-Benz is once again setting an example when it comes to creativity of design, and as such highlighting its leading role in this area: in terms of its proportions, the new CLS is quite clearly a coupé, but with five doors and a roof which continues through to the rear, it promises some remarkable new possibilities encapsulated in a stunning form. The idea of the four-door coupé – successfully introduced in 2004 with the first CLS and long imitated in the meantime – has now been taken to new heights and to innovative effect. The result is automotive independence at its most beautiful.

The proportions of the CLS Shooting Brake are surprising but clearly those of a coupé, and create a basic stance which makes it look ready for the off: the long bonnet, narrow-look windows with frameless side windows, and dynamic roof sloping back towards the rear. It is only when taking a second look that it becomes clear that the Shooting Break actually has five doors and offers “more” in terms of function. In essence it represents an unprecedented version of a sports car with five seats and a large tailgate. It is a special proposition for people looking to differentiate themselves from the mainstream.

NEW HYUNDAI SANTA FE ON SALE Hyundai Motor Company has announced that the all-new 2013 Santa Fe will go on sale in the Middle East in mid-September 2012. With its core product concepts being ‘refinement’, ‘smartness’ and ‘practicality’, the all-new Santa Fe is set to be a hit in the SUV market, offering a whole new class of luxury with its differentiated design, cutting-edge

technologies and practical use of space. The all new Santa Fe will continue to be the solid brand heritage of the automaker’s most representative SUV model, which is entering its third generation. The previous generations of Santa Fe have already proven popular with customers in the Middle East, with 87,273 units sold since the model made its debut in 2000.

JAGUAR F-TYPE TO DEBUT IN PARIS

THE ALL NEW RANGE ROVER The all-new Range Rover is the most capable and most luxurious Land Rover yet. Lighter, stronger and with new levels of refinement, the Range Rover reinforces its position as the world’s finest luxury SUV. The fourth generation of the unique Range Rover line, the all-new model has been developed from the ground up, capturing the innovative spirit and iconic design of the original model which changed the world of motoring when it was launched over 40 years ago. The world’s first SUV with a

revolutionary lightweight all-aluminium monocoque body structure is 39 per cent lighter than the steel body in the outgoing model enabling total vehicle weight savings of up to 420kg. The lightweight aluminium platform has delivered significant enhancements in performance and agility, along with a transformation in fuel economy and CO2 emissions. In addition, all-new aluminium front and rear chassis architecture has been developed with completely re-engineered fourcorner air suspension.

The F-TYPE, Jaguar’s all-new aluminium two-seater sports car, will make its global debut in production form at the Paris Motor Show on 27th September 2012. Adrian Hallmark, global brand director, Jaguar Cars, said: “The unveiling of the F-TYPE in Paris will be a truly significant day in Jaguar’s history as it will mark the company’s return to the sports car market, a market it originally

helped to create”. As its sporting forebears did in their era, the F-TYPE will break new ground by delivering stunning sports car performance while vividly demonstrating Jaguar’s cuttingedge technologies and world-class designs. The next step in Jaguar’s sporting bloodline is about to become reality.” The F-TYPE will be launched as a convertible with a choice of three petrol engines.

PHANTOM SERIES II ARRIVES IN OMAN

The new Rolls-Royce Phantom Series II has officially arrived in Oman after having been revealed for the first time at Al Jenaibi International Automobiles, the sole dealer for Rolls-Royce Motor Cars in the Sultanate. The famous words of Sir Henry Royce-“Strive for perfection in everything you do”have once more echoed through the hallways of the home of Rolls-Royce in Goodwood, with the

production of the Phantom Series II family, which projects a more informal presence with a greater emphasis on driving. The new car has been thoughtfully updated through introducing cutting-edge technologies and enhancements to an already peerless drive train. As a consequence, the new RollsRoyce Phantom family Series II is a modern interpretation of the classic timeless Phantom design.

BUSINESS BRIEFS BILLBOARD

REDTAG opens its first store in Oman REDTAG, the region’s popular value fashion, lifestyle and homeware retailer has opened its first store in Oman. Strategically located in Al Khuwair, allowing easy access to its customers, the new store was inaugurated by HH Faisal Turki Al Said, COO, director general of marketing and media, The Public Authority for Investment Promotion & Export Development in the presence of REDTAG management, staff, media and a large gathering of customers. After the inauguration ceremony, the chief guest was taken on a visit of the store and was also provided with an overview of the products and services that the customers will now be able to enjoy in Oman. Spread over an area of 2,200 sq mt , the store layout is attractive and so are the items on display, adding to the all-round appearance. Large aisles and a bright and spacious setting accentuate the feel-good factor. Shoppers can look forward to a wide array of trendy clothes and accessories under one roof.

Pizza Hut opens 29th outlet at Barka Anil Khimji, director, Khimji Ramdas inaugurated the 29th Pizza Hut Outlet at Barka. Pizza Hut, a key of the Khimji Ramdas group, is widely acknowledged as one of Oman’s most popular restaurant chain. No other restaurant chains have so many stores in Oman. The new Pizza Hut Delivery (PHD) outlet will cater to its customers from a prominent location at Barka. This outlet is specially designed for faster delivery and takeaway – while maintaining the highest quality standards of Yum! Restaurants International and Pizza Hut in Oman. Says Anil Khimji, “The people of Barka have long been demanding a Pizza Hut outlet and this new store will surely meet their demands”

Polyglot concludes summer programmes iPad lucky winner announced Evolve... lifestyle, the furniture store, announced the lucky winner of first raffle draw held at the showroom in Wattayah. Jamaal Al Waili was the lucky winner who got an iPad. Jamaal is so happy to have won the iPad that he couldn’t come to terms with the fact that he has won something, in a lucky draw, for the first time in his life. Two more iPads and a bumper prize of tickets for two to Switzerland are waiting to be won in the coming months. All you have to do is to visit Evolve... lifestyle whenever you are thinking of buying a good set of sofa furniture and you could be the next winner.

Polyglot Institute has concluded successfully its summer programmes for youth. As per institute policy and commitment towards quality training, Polyglot Institute provides the best training services in the areas of language, information technology using state-of-the-art technology and modern premises along with the latest training methodologies to ensure that each student has concluded his training and acquired the necessary skills to enable them to enter any profession and choose their future career. Youngsters come to Polyglot with great deal of energy and enthusiasm to enhance their inter-perusal skills and gain knowledge in the respective field of interest.

PIA opens new office Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), the national carrier of Pakistan, recently inaugurated its new office premises, in the presence of HE Nawabzada Aminullah Khan Raisani, Ambassador of Pakistan and Irshad Ghani, director – corporate services, PIA. Situated at a prime location next to QNB Building on Markaz Tijari Street, Block No 127 in the CBD area, the state-of-the-art office will carry out all its functions including PIA ticketing and reservations from this premises. The temporary telephone lines of the office have been set as 24708154, 24705005 and 24799966, and the Ticket Office Manager can be contacted on 24799422.

September 2012

Centrepoint launches Back 2 School Collection

Dream Drive winners at Buraimi and Salalah

Looking to capture the imagination of children and make the new school year an enjoyable and memorable one, Centrepoint revealed a huge range of exciting and new ‘Back to School’ collection for 3 to 18 age group children, across Babyshop, Splash, Shoe Mart & Lifestyle. Featuring some of the latest and greatest from the world of actionheroes and animation, the vibrant collection is designed for style, safety and functionality. The young ones can now own school bags, water bottles, stationary pouches and lunch boxes that sport their favourite cartoon characters. The Back to School range also offers a wide selection of functional and safe bottles that come in different designs. The stylish light-weight bottles, available in pleasant colours, have pop-up and screw-on lids, as well as enhanced rubber-grip options for easy handling.

The third and fourth draw of the Lulu Nissan Dream Drive was held in Buraimi and Salalah recently. The winnings form a part of the popular Lulu Nissan Dream Drive promotion that puts shoppers in the running for big wins for just a mere RO10 worth of shopping from any Lulu outlet. First up on the list of prizes to be won is the sleek and sturdy Nissan Armada. This is followed by a host of other prizes featuring products and home appliance gadgets from Samsung. Among the hundred Samsung prizes are laptops, Galaxy tabs, dishwashers, washing machines, microwaves and much more. The Lulu Nissan Dream Drive campaign began in July and will continue through till September, giving patrons ample opportunity to score big time on the list of amazing prizes. The extensive drive further establishes the retail giant’s unrivalled position as the people’s favourite place to shop in Oman. With major expansion plans to drive its presence further in Oman, particularly the country’s interior regions, the Lulu group is poised for greater growth and success.

Safari Complex reopens The Safari Pub welcomes its newest live band, Sonic, as it reopens for the new season. Sonic is another successful band managed that has certainly left a strong mark in the music industry in the past. Sonic consists of six members, determined to impress Safari guests as they perform every evening excluding Saturdays from 10 pm to 1.30 am. Safari Pub also is introducing a resident DJ, spinning the coolest beats every night until 3 am. During the past weeks, the only dedicated sports bar in Muscat also underwent some changes. Due to the success of Habana Sports Bar it was increased into a bigger and better venue.

Fashion served hot It’s an unbelievably hot summer and fashion gets rewarding as high-street major Splash is all set to woo its customers with an exclusive promotion, ‘Fashion served Hot’. On offer are an exciting collection of branded and Splash designer mugs available in 31 styles of contemporary designs and funky shapes. Designed for our fashion savvy audience, the assortment is made available on a minimum purchase of RO15, across all Splash stores in Oman. Reflecting the many personas and drawing inspiration from Splash’s international brand portfolio, consumers can each take home a part of their favorite brands like UMM, Being Human, ELLE, Barbie, Lee Cooper and Smiley that come in various designs. Each of the mugs manages to grab eyeballs.

Oman Air inaugurates Majan lounge Oman Air opened Majan Lounge, its new lounge at the Muscat International Airport located on the lower floor of the departure terminal. Designed by JPA (design consultants) the lounge offers a luxurious and tranquil environment with a modern Arabian twist. Majan Lounge is the third lounge facility opened and operated by Oman Air Catering division in the past 18 months. It will be open 24/7. The lounge offers full Wi-Fi connectivity, a business centre with computer terminals fax and printers, rest rooms with ‘full recliner’ seats, a media area with full satellite TV, magazines and newspapers, a fully serviced drinks bar, hot and cold snack buffet counter (serviced by Oman Air lounge chefs) and modern bathrooms with shower and baby changing facilities. This lounge can be availed by other travellers as well by paying a fee of RO12.

MARKET WATCH

Fun, colourful Asha 311 smartphone Nokia is set to save its customers up to 90 percent on mobile data costs with the Nokia Asha 311 from its affordable Asha Touch range. The new Asha 311 takes full advantage of the Nokia Browser 2.0, a major recent update which uses Nokiaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cloud technology to reduce data consumption by up to 90 per cent meaning that consumers can enjoy faster and cheaper internet access. Priced at just RO49, the beautifully crafted Nokia Asha 311 takes the full touch experience of a mobile device to a completely new price point, boasting a fast and fluid 3.5G capacitive touch screen device, powered by a 1 GHz processor to provide a great internet experience. The Nokia Asha 311 is a colourful, compact touch screen device that comes with all the features youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;d expect for a fun and easy mobile experience. It boasts a bright and colourful, scratch resistant capacitive glass screen. The Nokia Asha 311 also features a 3.2MP camera and pre-installed Nokia Maps, in addition to the 15 level pre-bundled version of Angry Birds.

Cool new ceramic designs The luxury Swiss watch brand Gc will be launching new additions to the highly-successful ceramic series, for both male and female lovers of the brand. The fresh new timepieces add a dash of sophistication for those style-conscious watch enthusiasts. The new Gc MiniChic Ceramic timepieces are available in three different styles; two models

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September 2012

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GIZMOS

Samsung’s smart crossover notebook With the advent of advanced technologies and gadgets, a new concept that is quickly gaining interest amongst employees, globally as well as regionally, is Bring Your Own Device (BYOD). Given the benefits of BYOD movement and the high acceptance rate in the region, the recently launched Samsung SLATE PC Series 7 is a suitable gadget for BYOD as it offers a unique form factor that enables maximum productivity and uncompromised mobility. Designed for users in need of maximised productivity in a mobile working environment, the Samsung SLATE PC Series 7 is based on the Windows® 7 operating system and delivers the desired performance and productivity of a desktop PC with the usability of a tablet. Powered by an Intel® Core™ i5/i3 processor and a SuperBright Plus 11.6” HD display, the device is powerful enough to handle demanding computing programmes and deliver a computing experience similar to a desktop PC.

Quality images in a pocket-sized camera Sony has launched Cyber-shot RX100, featuring a host of powerful features packaged into sleek, compact aluminium body with features similar to a DSLR camera. Sleekly crafted in aluminium for strength, lightness and luxurious looks, the RX100 inherits many advanced imaging features from Sony’s Alpha ‘α’ range of A-mount and E-mount camera families. An accomplished partner for travel, portrait or street photography, with impressive picture quality and intuitive, comfortable control options, the RX100 is ideal as a step-up from point-and-shoot cameras. This camera features the world’s first 1.0-type EXMOR CMOS sensor with a resolution of 20.2 effective megapixels and a bright F1.8 lens making it the perfect fit for a compact, pocket-sized second camera for enthusiasts who want to capture pristine stills with refined defocus effect and Full HD video while they are on the move.

New functionality for Canon XF series Canon Middle East has launched a new firmware update that enhances the usability of the popular XF camcorder series. The new firmware, version 1.0.4.0, adds the 1440 x1080 35Mbps recording format, popular with major news broadcasters, to the XF-series’ extensive selection of video resolutions and frame rates. The new format will enable videographers to record 1440 x 1080 HD video at 35Mbps at 60i or 50i and seamlessly integrate with existing workflows. All previously supported XF-series video resolutions and frame rates will remain available in addition to the newly supported recording format. Canon is also releasing Canon XF Utility 1.3 Updater for both Windows and Mac

BROWSINGCORNER

Training guide for competitive endeavours The Art of War Translated into English by Thomas Cleary, gives tips on how to outsmart one’s opponent so that physical battle is not necessary. So much so that there are business books applying lessons from this to oﬃce politics and corporate strategy. An OER review

he Art of War, an ancient Chinese military treatise attributed to Sun Tzu, a highranking military general, strategist and tactician, is still perhaps the most prestigious and influential book of strategy in the world today, as eagerly studied in Asia by modern politicians and executives as it has been by military leaders since ancient times. Compiled more than two thousand years ago by the mysterious warriorphilosopher, The Art of War is a study of the anatomy of organisations in conflict.

The book believed to have been compiled during the late Spring and Autumn period or early Warring States period, is composed of 13 chapters, each of which is devoted to one aspect of warfare. It is commonly known to be the definitive work on military strategy and tactics of its time. It has been the most famous and influential of China’s Seven Military Classics, and for the last two thousand years it remained the most important military treatise in Asia, where even the common people knew it by name. It has had an influence on Eastern and Western military thinking, business tactics, legal strategy, and beyond. Translated by Thomas Cleary, the English version presents the

September 2012

classic from the point of view of its background in the great spiritual tradition of Taoism, the origin of psychology, science, and technology in East Asia and the source of the insights into human nature that underlie this most revered of handbooks for success. Thomas Cleary, in his translation tries to bring out the meaning of the principles of strategy from standard collection of commentaries on Sun Tzu’s text by eleven interpreters. In addition, the translator provides an extensive introduction discussing the content and background of the book. The book was first translated into the French language in 1772 by French Jesuit Jean Joseph Marie Amiot and a partial translation into English was attempted by British oﬃcer Everard Ferguson Calthrop in 1905. Leaders as diverse as Mao Zedong, General Vo Nguyen Giap, Baron Antoine-Henri Jomini, General Douglas MacArthur, and leaders of Imperial Japan have drawn inspiration from the work. It applies to competition and conflict in general, on every level from the interpersonal to the international. Its aim is invincibility, victory without battle, and unassailable strength through understanding of the physics, politics, and psychology of conflict. Sun Tzu considered war as a necessary evil that must be avoided whenever

possible. It notes that “war is like fire; people who do not lay down their arms will die by their arms. The war should be fought swiftly to avoid economic losses: “No long war ever profited any country: 100 victories in 100 battles is simply ridiculous. Anyone who excels in defeating his enemies triumphs before his enemy’s threat become real”.

BEYONDBOARDROOMS

hey say excellence is not a skill but an attitude. It holds true in Alok Varma’s case whose 24-year long career in the construction industry has been studded with relentless pursuit of excellence and unflinching commitment to perfection. Fourteen years with India’s Cement leader Associated Cement Companies (ACC), and 10 years with Assarain Concrete Products & Trading (ACP), one of Oman’s largest concrete manufacturers, helped him get acquainted with a wide range of areas of the industry. It has equipped him with effective management skills and enabled him run businesses in specialised and highly competitive markets. Wherever he worked, the focus has largely been on business expansion, continuous improvement, aligning people, processes and technology. And driving businesses by creating a higher pull on product movement through brand development, close customer networking and forming partnerships with many key business decision makers. Ever since he became part of the Assarain family, Varma has concentrated on raising the bar of excellence, increasing brand value and creating a committed team by leading people into participative company building. “I have always tried to create razor sharp competitive advantages for us to differentiate our company in the crowded market,” says Varma. “Over the last 10 years that I have been heading ACP, we have expanded yearon-year to meet the growing demand of our products. We have created another great, technologically advanced manufacturing hub in Sohar, known as Modern Concrete Products (MCP) to cater for the entire Al Batinah region, Buraimi, Yanqul, Khasab etc. and this facility is fully backed by our competent and progressive professionals with excellent service levels.” In the recent years, ACP and MCP have made quantum leaps in terms of growth, product range expansion and overall development by providing many other smart constructional products under one roof, and emerging to be

Giving a cutting edge Alok Ranjan Varma, General Manager of Assarain Concrete Products & Trading, created razor sharp competitive advantages for his company to differentiate itself in a highly crowded market, reports Muhammed Nafie

the preferred supplier of all industry leaders, government organisations, contracting companies and retail customers. Varma explains, “We are quite buoyant towards future outlook as under the wise guidance and leadership of His Majesty, we see a lot of initiatives taken by the government towards infrastructure development. Hence, ACP and MCP are well poised to become the natural choice of many consultants and contracting companies to contribute towards building these projects with their quality products.”

Leading from front The main thrust of Varma’s management principles has been to create productive teams with good inter-departmental weave. “I firmly believe that the paternal management style or ‘I-know-more-than-you’ style does not find much ground in today’s world,” he avers. “During my entire

career, I have always believed in leading from front and leading by example. People who lead should certainly be knowledgeable, diligent, razor sharp, analytical and yet decisive.” Varma considers himself as a “people’s man” which has always given him an edge to create strong and sustainable partnerships, both outside and within the organisation. During his leisure time, Varma prefers to relax in a serene place reading books on management or watching intellectual discussions or debates on television. His favourite books include Richard Bach’s Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Jack Welch’s Straight From the Gut. He also likes action movies or thrillers. Safehouse, P2, Wrecked and Iron Lady are some of his favourites, while Turkey, Malaysia, Namibia, New York and London are some of his most enjoyable travel destinations.

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