As soon as approval to appoint Dr. Jamil el Jaroudi as CEO of Bank Nizwa was received from the Central Bank of Oman the public announcement of the new appointment was made. Chairman of the Bank Nizwa’s Founding Committee of Oman’s first Islamic bank Ahmed Saif al Rawahi explained the reason for the delay in…
Category Archives: Regional News
Perfume Specialist Rasasi to Open Additional Store in Muscat
Rasasi Perfumes will be opening their 15th store in Oman in the Lulu Hypermarket at Darsayt in Muscat. The opening of the outlet helps to strengthen the company’s presence not only in Oman, but in the rest of the GCC region. The stores newest location will be placed within the upscale shopping center in…
Omantel Lowering Rates for Mobile Calls
Omantel Mobile announced on Sunday that they will be drastically reducing their prices for local and international outgoing calls for their Mada and Hayak subscribers. According to a press release the new rates will begin at 14.5 bz/min for local calls and for international calls the cost will be 42.5 bz/min. Those rates will apply…
Gartner’s Sondergaard Predicts 6.3% Rise in IT Spending in MENA in 2012
Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president of Gartner Analysts announced at the Gartner CIO Leadership Forum 2012 that the MENA region can expect 6.3 percent growth in IT spending in the coming year. Sondergaard explained during the forum, held in Dubai February 27-28 that the Middle East and Africa enterprise IT spending could climb to as…
Mariah Khan:Women Controlling More of World’s Wealth
Doctor Mariah Khan is the head of the women’s private banking section of the National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD.) According to her, the wealthy women of the region are smart and savvy investors whose wealth has been growing in recent years. In the United Arab Emirates alone Khan says that women are involved in…
Best Ever Year for Hyundai in the Middle East
The world’s fastest growing car manufacturer, Hyundai Motor Company, posted its yearly sales figures for 2011, showing record growth in the Middle East region. Compared to 2010 Hyundai experienced a 9 percent overall increase in sales during 2011, selling a record number of cars at 283,953 vehicles. In the Levant and GCC countries Qatar showed…
PDO Director Restucci Announces New Oil Fields in Oman
Raoul Restucci, the managing director of Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) announced at his company’s annual media briefing last week that PDO has discovered several new sources for oil and gas in Oman, in addition to those already reported in 2011. Two areas within the northeast sector of PDO’s concession area, in Lekhwair, were discovered; Lekwhair-724…
UAE Among World’s Most Expensive Internet Providers
A report published on Thursday by the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority in the Arabic language daily newspaper Emirat Alyoum states that the UAE has one of the most expensive internet and phone services in the world; and that is despite a series of tariff cuts during the past several years. "Telecommunications services in the UAE are…
Oman Tourism Minister Tours Muscat Grand Mall
In order to get a first-hand look at the status of the soon-to-be opened Muscat Grand Mall, the minister of tourism Shaikh Abdulmalik bin Abdullah al Khalili visited the site on Monday. The grand opening of the shopping complex is planned to take place in just a few weeks, but before that day arrives the…
Mobile Roaming Rates Reduced in GCC Countries
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) of the Kingdom of Bahrain, in conjunction with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has decided to implement a reduction in charges for all international calls made to GCC countries while roaming in those GCC countries. This decision comes in the wake of the decision by the ministerial committee of the…