Oman

THE COMPANY: Al Maha Ceramics (AMC) was set up in 2006 and began commercial production in April 2008, with a manufacturing plant in Sohar Industrial Area spread over 150,000 sq metres. The company has emerged as one of the largest selling ceramic tiles in the years since its inception, due to its...

THE COMPANY: Bank Muscat (BM) is the leading financial services provider in Oman, with a strong presence in corporate, retail, investment and private banking, as well as in asset management. It was founded in 1982 and grew through a series of mergers and acquisitions during the 1990s. Between 2000...

Oman has seen growing initial public offering (IPO) activity in recent years, spurred in part by regulatory requirements for foreign-backed electricity companies to conduct share offerings. While 2015 got off to a slower start than the previous year, recent regulatory changes should help to further boost the IPO pipeline in coming years and in...

In August 2014 amendments to Oman’s insurance law were passed under Royal Decree No. 39/2014. Changes include a doubling of capitalisation requirements for insurance companies – the second minimum capital increase in recent years – and an obligation to list on the local stock exchange, both of which will come into effect in 2017. Industry...

The insurance industry in Oman has been going through a period of change in recent years, alongside its continued expansion. The authorities have recently made regulatory alterations aimed primarily at encouraging consolidation in the somewhat crowded sector. Penetration levels are low by Western standards, leaving a great deal of room for...

Oman has long been seeking to reduce its economy’s reliance on oil production. The sultanate’s long-term development strategy Vision 2020 aims to reduce oil’s share of GDP to 9% by 2020 by growing other sectors. Diversification is also one of the main elements of the government’s ninth five-year development plan, which runs from 2016 to 2020...