My people! Any leader is only as good as the team that works with him. I am indeed fortunate to have with me a team of professionals who, over the years, have become friends. BankMuscat must be one of the few entities that have enjoyed a great degree of stability in its management team, particularly with regard to its Executive Management. This has enabled a huge degree of trust and understanding to develop between us and consequently, speed of initiation and response.

Recently, BankMuscat won the Euromoney 2006 Awards for Excellence, for the fifth consecutive year. What commitment do you hold out for your local customers, with regard to new products and services? 

BankMuscat has time and again said that it is committed to its vision of becoming one of the foremost banks across the region by the year 2010. One of the cornerstones on which we wish to rest our case is our commitment to bring the finest of products and services to our customers in Oman and across the countries in which we operate. BankMuscat, as you may have noticed over the years, has stayed true to this commitment and regularly introduced value-added and yet relevant products, services and solutions to its customer base. This is something we will continue to do as we move ahead.

Given the array of international recognition that your bank has received over the years, what strategic alliances would you uphold as best suited to BankMuscat?
One would need reams of paper to list them all down! On a more serious note, any alliance that will result in significant value creation for our family of stakeholders - investors, customers, business associates, the community we operate in and of course, our employees - are alliances that we would value and cherish in the days ahead.

In view of the rapidly growing real-estate market you have launched the baituna home loans in April 2006. How successful has it been in these few last months?
Baituna, I am glad to share, is well on the way to becoming a household name across a significant number of people nationwide! 

What challenges do you foresee for BankMuscat in the coming years?

We would much rather see them as opportunities rather than challenges! With the growth of the national economy, customers in Oman are increasingly looking for value-added products, services and solutions that cater to and answer their current and perceived needs. Banks in the future will have to keep pace with these requirements which will be fuelled not only from the banking sector alone, but by developments in other industry fields. For instance, improvements or innovations in the technology or telecom sectors will fuel expectations of customers, who will expect to receive similar services from other players in the service industry.

Secondly, competition between the banking institutions themselves are bound to increase, as institutions vie for market share and mind share. With the proposed opening up of the national economy post WTO, the market will also see enhanced competition from regional and international players who are keen to establish their presence in the domestic market. Oman today, has one of the youngest and rapidly growing consumer markets in the region, this is bound to catch the fancy of the regional and international marketeer.

Finally, we see the growth and increasing sophistication of corporate houses in the country will spur demand for products, services and solutions especially for the B2B market in the country.

With the banking sector opening up to more foreign players, do you think BankMuscat's position would eventually slide in the face of stiff competition?
Industries world wide have always revealed that competition is healthy, as it results in greater efficiencies and nimbleness amongst leading players and more value being provided to customers. BankMuscat, we have every reason to believe, is well geared up to taking on healthy local and regional competition both within Oman and across the region.