Press Releases

Two-Day Forum to Showcase Omani and International Investment Opportunities

Muscat, 14th March, 2010: Ominvest has announced it will be the main sponsor of the first Oman Global Investment Forum that will showcase investment opportunities in the Sultanate and internationally and will bring together key industry leaders, financial intermediaries and top level policy makers.

The two day forum will be held from March 16-17 and is being organized by Institutional Investor Conferences and is attracting hundreds of international delegates in addition to business and industry leaders from Oman.

Keynote addresses on the opening day of the Forum will be made by H.E. Ahmed bin Abdulnabi Macki, Minister of National Economy, H.E. Maqbool bin Ali Sultan, Minister of Commerce and Industry and by Ominvest Chairman, Hani Al Zubair.

The Forum, that will be held at the Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort, will feature panel discussion sessions on the economic outlook for Oman, the outlook for capital markets and banking, discuss free zones, industry and infrastructure, the prospects for the tourism and real estate sectors in the Sultanate and the oil and gas industry.

Ominvest will host a special workshop on private equity led by its CEO Shariq Azhar and featuring Mr. Mohammed Al-Barwani, Chairman of MB Holding Company LLC, Dr. Corneleus Boersch, founder and Chief Executive of Swiss asset management and venture capital firm Mountain Partners AG, and Mr. Mukhtar M Hasan, Managing Partner Al Barij International among the guest panelists.

Mr. Azhar will also be a panelist on the discussion about capital markets and banking and Ominvest’s Executive Vice President of Real Estate Investment, Mark Allchin, will be take part in the tourism and real estate panel.

Speaking about their support for the Forum, Ominvest CEO Shariq Azhar said: “We are delighted to be supporting a Forum of this nature that allows Oman to showcase to an international audience the investment opportunities available in the Sultanate.

“This is an excellent platform to help celebrate the 40th anniversary of the nation. The event has attracted an extremely high caliber of Government and private sector representatives to make both keynote speeches and participate in the different panels and workshops over the two days.

“Our own contribution will be to lead a discussion on the growing importance of private equity in the country and also to participate in panels on our core area of expertise, capital markets and banking, and one of our fastest growing business areas – real estate and tourism development.”

The Forum will be the first that Institutional Investor Conferences, a leading provider of highly interactive investment strategy conferences for senior money managers and financial executives for more than 30 years, has held in Oman following successful events in Abu Dhabi and Qatar.

Charlie Floyd, Head of Middle East for Institutional Investor Conferences, said: “The support that Ominvest have given us as our Senior Lead Sponsor has been instrumental to the hosting of the first ever Oman Global Investment Forum. We have had a tremendous response to the Forum from the international delegates who wish to attend and from the Government of Oman and the business sector in the country wanting to participate.

“There is an excellent range of speakers and topics for debate and we are confident that the Forum will put Oman under the international investment spotlight as it celebrates the country’s 40th anniversary.”

Other sponsors of the Forum include HSBC, Oman Arab Bank and Omantel.

Ominvest is among Oman’s longest established investment companies and one of the first listed in the region with a vision to continually grow and develop its multi-faceted business with the objective to be an acknowledged leader among top tier investment companies in the region.

For further information, please contact:
Kevin Hasler/Zahra Al Lawati
ZEENAH PR
Tel: 00 968 26 698 010