Around the globe, there are strong signs that the recession may be easing and only when this is evident people will start to look for innovative products, and attractive investments.

Doha Bank as one of the major sponsors of the Doha Green Conference has shown its dedication and commitment towards greening the environment.

With more than 22 years of wide-ranging experience of Banking & Financial Services with organizations like ABN Amro Bank Canada, Royal Bank of Canada, Saudi American Bank, and Ernst & Young, presently Humayun Kabir is the General Manager responsible for the Business Banking activity which includes Corporate Banking, Investment Banking, Financial Institutions & Corporate Liability Management and Treasury.

During these unstable times, Oman Arab Bank had the highest return on equity, highest return on assets among all banks in Oman during 2008. This achievement was primarily due to the sound banking and lending policies of the bank and its active participation in infrastructural and developmental project.

It is no secret that Dr. Mohamed Abdulaziz Kalmoor, Chief Executive Officer of Bank Sohar has a long experience in the Central Bank of Oman and this is one of the reasons why he led Bank Sohar to be among the giant banks that have been in the market for ages. He started the interview by explaining why the current Omani economy was not hit in the global crisis and shed some light on his bank’s operations, performance and future prospects. He also spoke on the factors that shielded Oman from the worst fallouts of the crisis.

Oman Arab Bank has an active presence in the Sultanate of Oman ever since it was established on 1st October, 1984 as a joint closed stock company. The bank started operations after acquiring the branches of Arab Bank Limited, Jordan that existed in the Sultanate since 1973.

Saleh Thabit Al Awaidy, Chief Operating Officer of Qatar National Bank spoke about his branch operation and performance in 2008. He gave his opinion on the global recession, and the reasons why Oman was spared most of the fallouts. Awaidy started by shedding some light on his branch operation and performance in the last year, saying "We have started our operation in 2008, our head office is in Qatar and it is one of the biggest banks in Qatar.

The Managing Director of Bank of Beirut in the Sultanate of Oman Ramy F. Zambarakji is famed for his vast banking experience in the GCC and as such BUSINESS LIFE magazine was keen on reporting his activities in Oman.

Bank Muscat (BM) matched the asset growth in the banking sector in Oman. Of the aggregate credit in 2008, it captured 40.3% share or RO3,727.7mn and its total assets increased at a CAGR of 31.1% during 2003-2008.

The General Manager and CFO of National Bank of Oman, Humayun Kabir, gave a detailed overview of his bank’s operations, future prospects, paid capital and shareholders. He also spoke about the bank’s main competitors and Kabir gave his opinion regarding the banking sector in Oman and the effectiveness of the Central bank. Then he also answered a question on both the local and foreign competition in the banking market.

Abdul Kader Askalan, Chief Executive Officer of Oman Arab Bank spoke about Oman’s economic indicator and whether the banking sector in the Sultanate of Oman was affected by the international financial crunch, and explained some of the measures taken by the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) to alleviate these effects. He also spoke about the performance of Oman Arab Bank in the last months and its future expansion plans.

Tharawat Investment House, the latest innovative Islamic investment house in the Kingdom of Bahrain, announced recently the launch of its first investment product the " Tharawat Sukuk Fund". The fund is an open-ended, Sharia’a compliant investment fund domiciled in the Kingdom of Bahrain investing around 70% of its assets in government and corporate Sukuk in the GCC and MENA areas.

Observers and diplomats are watching with great concern the tense parliamentary elections in Lebanon, fearing that the outcome of these landmark elections will determine the political and economic future of this country.