Category: General

Sohar Port and Freezone signed a land lease agreement with Sohar Noble Metals (FZC) Company, for the production of Vanadium and Niobium metals in Sohar Freezone to the tune of USD 7 million.

The project will significantly enrich the minerals portfolio in the zone, enhancing industrial diversity. Vanadium and Niobium play crucial roles as additives in the metals industry, enhancing the strength and durability of various types of metals.

Moreover, the project, covering an area of 5,000 square metres, will be designed and constructed to supply the superalloys industries within the United States and Europe markets with Vanadium and Niobium ingots.

Khalid Ahmed Al Balushi, Director of Sohar Noble Metals (FZC) said, “This agreement with Sohar Freezone offers promising opportunities to investors. By leveraging the strategic advantages provided by Sohar Freezone and its continued growth, the upcoming Vanadium and Niobium production plant will not only expand our minerals range but also foster local value creation.”

On his turn, Haitham Saif Al Omairi, Business Development Manager at Sohar Port and Freezone said, “The production of Vanadium and Niobium Plant in Sohar Freezone represents a significant milestone and a crucial step in our continuous efforts to industrial diversification. Establishing the plant reflects our commitment to foster a robust industrial ecosystem, reassuring our strategic role in driving the end-to-end metal manufacturing value chain.”

The project output is expected to attract further investments from companies reliant on these crucial metals which will enhance the continuous development of Sohar Freezone.

Source: Oman News Agency

The Board of Directors of Oman Development Bank (ODB) today approved a set of loans to the tune of RO 14 million. The loans are endorsed for projects in the sectors of food security, industry, minerals, tourism, health and logistics, among other economic sectors.

These projects funded by the bank in the governorates of Al Buraimi, Dhofar, Al Batinah and Muscat, will contribute to providing employment opportunities for Omani jobseekers, cut down imports and maximize the value of Omani exports.

The bank’s board of directors lauded the significant role of the private sector in stimulating economic movement by adopting projects with high added value to the national economy.

The projects will spruce up economic development, taking advantage of the comparative advantage among governorates, thus generating added value and consolidating the strategy of urban growth, said ODB board, which lauded the private sector’s role in the plan.

ODB Board also discussed developments in the bank’s digital transition project, which will convert the bank’s business model and automate all its operations. In turn, this will significantly contribute to improving the bank’s financing services to investors.

In addition, the Board reviewed business opportunities offered by the bank in governorates of Oman in cooperation with the governors’ offices, as part of steps to achieve the goals of Oman Vision 2040.

The board also valued the outcome of recent forums which showcased more than 1,000 investment opportunities worth more than RO 100 million.

Source: Oman News Agency

The Ministry of Labour, represented by the central team of Ejada system, organized here today a workshop titled “Measuring the satisfaction of service beneficiaries, following the implementation of Ejada System”.

HH Sayyid Marwan Turki Al Said, Dhofar Governor attended the workshop, which was held at the Sultan Qaboos Youth Complex for Culture and Entertainment in Salalah and in cooperation with the office of the Governor of Dhofar.

The workshop included an overview of Ejada system as a scheme that contributes to raising the efficiency of employees in the state’s administrative apparatus. Ejada seeks to assess areas that influence the improvement of the workplace environment.

The workshop was aimed at identifying the customer satisfaction standard and its measurement indicators, achieving integration among all government departments in Dhofar Governorate, improving services extended to beneficiaries and measuring customer satisfaction with government services.

Source: Oman News Agency

Caretaker Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi stressed that “the Lebanese state does not cover any criminal or culprit or organization,” adding that contacts at the political and military levels are still ongoing to hand over those involved in the recent events that erupted in the Palestinian refugee camp of Ain-el-Hilweh. Mawlawi also stressed that the security reports do not indicate that the situation in the camp has gone out of control or spilled over into other camps. “Lebanon is not a mailbox, and we will not allow it to turn into an arena to send messages,” he underlined. “We appreciate the measures undertaken by the army to curb the situation in Ain-el-Hilweh and things have calmed down now,” he added. Moreover, Mawlawi stressed keenness on Lebanon’s “Arab brothers,” adding that the warning travels they have issued aim to guarantee the safety of their nationals.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

Kataeb Leader Samy Gemayel sent on Monday a letter to Caretaker Minister of Finance Youssef Khalil, requesting the implementation of the urgent decision issued by the expedited judge, Carl Irani, with reference number 627/2022-2023. The decision obliges Caretaker Minister of Finance to provide Gemayel with a copy of the preliminary report regarding the forensic audit of the accounts and activities of the Banque Du Liban, prepared by “Alvarez and Marsal” company, immediately and without any delay. On June 27, 2023, Gemayel had previously submitted a request to the Ministry of Finance to obtain the information, seeking to be provided with a copy of the forensic audit report based on the Right to Access Information Law number 28, dated February 20, 2017. When Caretaker Minister of Finance rejected his request, Gemayel resorted to the State Shura Council, which ruled that the report belongs to the Lebanese people, who have the right to be informed, parallel to any administrative or judicial authority, of the real, legal, and undisclosed reasons that led to the collapse of the entire economic and financial system of the Lebanese state. The Shura Council’s decision also emphasized that the Ministry of Finance cannot use the confidentiality clause included in the contract between “Alvarez and Marsal” company and the Lebanese Republic, as it contradicts the provisions of the Right to Access Information Law.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

Caretaker Minister of Information, Ziad Makary, met on Monday at his ministry office with a delegation of the Lebanese Order of Physiotherapists. Talks touched on the activities the Order is set to organize in September.

Source: National News Agency – Lebanon

Muscat Awards Forum on tourism investment opportunities kicked off today at Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre (OCEC).

Organized by Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), the two-day forum covers opportunities in tourism, sports and real estate investment in Oman. It is attended by a large number of investors and entrepreneurs from Oman and abroad.

Muscat Awards also explores investment opportunities in projects conducted by three ministries and two public firms: The Ministry of Heritage and Tourism, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth, ASAAS Company and Khazaen Economic City.

The opening ceremony included a visual presentation about “Mamun” crowdfunding platform, a model of the Jabal Shams mountain peak project and a visual presentation on another tourism project.

Faisal Abdullah Al Rawas, Chairman of Board of Directors of OCCI, said that the forum reflects OCCI’s keenness to join hands with the public sector to develop a sound tourism and investment infrastructure, attract local and foreign investments and lend support to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) operating in the field.

The forum offered an opportunity to showcase a broad range of tourism investment opportunities. It allowed investors and companies to hold bilateral meetings to review opportunities available to the participants. Pioneers in the field of tourism and real estate investment in the Sultanate of Oman were honoured during the forum.

Participants in the forum include Omani SMEs specialized in the fields of sports tourism, adventure and entertainment, companies from GCC states and other Arab countries, in addition to a group of Russian and Thai companies specialized in the supply of requirements for hotels and tourist resorts.

Source: Oman News Agency

The total issuance of Government Treasury Bills amounted to RO 3 million.

The value of the allotted Treasury bills amounted to RO 3 million, for a maturity period of 91 days. The average accepted price reached RO 98.710 for every RO 100, and the minimum accepted price arrived at RO 98.710 per RO 100. The average discount rate and the average yield reached 5.17418% and 5.24179%, respectively.

Treasury Bills are short-term highly secured financial instruments issued by the Ministry of Finance, and they provide licensed commercial banks the opportunity to invest their surplus funds. The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) acts as the Issue Manager and provides theadded advantage of ready liquidity through discounting and repurchase facilities (Repo).

The interest rate on the Repo operations with CBO is 6.00% while the discount rate on the Treasury Bills Discounting Facility with CBO is 6.50%.

Furthermore, Treasury Bills promote the local money market by creating a benchmark yield curve for short-term interest rates. Additionally, the Government may also resort to this instrument whenever felt necessary for financing its recurrent expenditures.

Source: Oman News Agency

Eng. Said Hamoud Al Ma’awali, Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, Chairman of Oman Air’s Board of Directors announced that the board approved a comprehensive programme to restructure the airline company.

The programme aims to address ongoing losses and the accumulation of debt.

Al Ma’awali said during a press conference that the programme includes four main pillars: financial sustainability, corporate governance, commercial aspects, and human capital. The board, he added, also approved recommendations of the study of the international management consulting firm, Oliver Wyman, which conducted a thorough assessment of the airline’s financial and commercial performance and presented practical measures to achieve sustainable commercial operations.

He said that Oman Air will restructure with the aim of improving its basic operational performance and enabling it to better meet the needs of the market.

Al Ma’awali pointed out that the procedures for Oman Air’s sustainable transformation require the use of qualified experts. In this regard, changes will be made in the current Board of Directors and Executive Management team during the coming months, ensuring the onboarding of highly qualified experts, whether local or international.

On corporate governance, the Minister said that specialised committees have been formed to reformulate governance concerned with human, financial and commercial resources.

Meanwhile, the airline’s network is being re-evaluated by international experts, and decisions will be taken on whether to continue certain destinations. Integration with local companies in the aviation field is also high on the programme’s agenda.

Al Ma’awali stressed that the upcoming steps will positively affect the quality and reliability of Oman Air’s services.

Source: Oman News Agency

This week’s BD 70 million issue of Government Treasury Bills has been oversubscribed by 121%.

The bills, carrying a maturity of 91 days, are issued by the Central Bank of Bahrain (CBB), on behalf of the Government of Bahrain.

The issue date of the bills on August 9 and the maturity date on November 8.

The weighted average rate of interest is 6.30% compared to 6.14% in the previous issue on August 2.

The approximate average price for the issue was 98.432% with the lowest accepted price being 98.384%.

This is issue No. 1977 (ISIN BH000Z900G31) of Government Treasury Bills. With this, the total outstanding value of Government Treasury Bills is BD 2.110 billion.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

Khalid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa, Deputy Prime Minister, received Roderick Drummond, outgoing British Ambassador to Bahrain.

The deputy prime minister praised the historical Bahrain-UK relations and high level of strategic coordination.

He commended the ambassadors’ efforts in boosting bilateral cooperation in various sectors.

Drummond expressed his appreciation for the support he received during his tenure, wishing Bahrain further progress and prosperity.

Source: Bahrain News Agency

The Ministry of Transportation and Telecommunications’ Meteorological Directorate reported in their monthly weather summary that the month of July goes on record as the second hottest July ever experienced in Bahrain since 1902.

The mean temperature of the month was 36.6 C, which is 1.5 C above the long-term normal for July, and this goes on record as the second highest mean temperature for July since 1902.

The highest mean monthly temperature for July was 36.9 C recorded in 2020 and 2017.

The mean maximum temperature of the month was 41.0 C, which is 1.3 C above the long-term normal, and this goes on record as the sixth highest mean maximum temperature for July since 1946.

The highest mean monthly maximum temperature for July was 42.1 C recorded in 2017.

During the month, Bahrain had 19 days with a maximum temperature exceeded 40 C and 3 days with a maximum temperature exceeded 45 C. The highest temperature recorded during the month was 46.3 C, which occurred on July 31 at Bahrain International Airport (BIA) this goes on record as the third highest temperature for July since 1946 and exceeded by July 13, 2010, & July 15, 2000, which were 47.4 C and July 22, 2002, which was 46.5 C.

The highest temperature recorded in the month at Bahrain International Circuit (BIC) was 48.7 C on July 18, 2023, at Durrat Al Bahrain was 47.8 C on July 31, 2023, and at the University of Bahrain (UoB) was 47.7 C, which was recorded on July 18, 2023.

The mean minimum temperature of the month was 32.8 C, which is 1.4 C above the long-term normal, and this goes on record as the fourth highest mean minimum temperature for July since 1946.

The highest mean monthly minimum temperature for July was 33.6 C recorded in 2020.

The lowest temperature recorded was 31.3 C on July 8 and 11 at BIA but was recorded at 27.3 C at the UoB and 27.7 C at Durrat Al Bahrain on July 2, 2023.

The mean relative humidity for July was 45% whereas the mean maximum relative humidity was 69% and the mean minimum relative humidity was 25%. The maximum relative humidity was 86% recorded on July 14 and 15 and the minimum relative humidity was 7% recorded on July 30 and 31.

July was the second sunniest month of all Julies since the sunshine records began in 1968. The total hours of sunshine for the month were 376.3 hours.

The highest monthly total hours of sunshine for July was 377.8 hours recorded in 1974.

The Mean wind speed for July was 8 knots. The prevailing wind was 36% from the Northwest direction. Gust winds reached 31 knots on July 12 at BIA but recorded 32 knots on the same day at Sitra Island. The Easterly to Southeasterly winds accounted for 15% of the observation.

Haze was reported on July 15. Visibility dropped to 2500 meters at BIA.

Source: Bahrain News Agency