Oman’s Vision 2020 development programme aims to diversify Oman’s economy beyond the oil industry through industrialisation, privatisation and the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and the development of Sohar is expected to play a pivotal role in that initiative.

Financial institutions, including National Bank of Oman (NBO), are playing their part. The initiative has already attracted nearly $11 billion in investments
“NBO has already committed substantial resources for major projects such as Sohar Refinery, Sohar Power and Sohar Aluminium and it will continue to provide support for projects expected to come up in the future,” said an NBO spokesman. “NBO provides customised financing packages to meet the specific needs of SMEs which also includes advisory services with the aim of developing entrepreneurial skills and risk-taking initiatives by a broader spectrum of people.”  The bank is assisting in the Sohar development through its branch network in the Batinah region, of which Sohar is part.
 NBO, the first local bank in Oman, was founded in 1973 and is now the second largest bank in Oman with a paid-up capital of RO80 million ($208 million). As of 31 December 2005, its net worth was RO169 million. It serves its customers in Oman through 52 branches and 77 ATMs as well as five branches in Egypt and one in the UAE. Its also operates a call centre.
The spokesman discus-sed some of the bank’s activities. Its corporate division delivers services including term loans, working capital facilities, import and export financing, asset and project financing and comprehensive cash manage-ment services. Its investment division embraces discretio-nary portfolio management services, brokerage opera-tions, asset manage-ment, distribution of mutual funds, lead management of public equity and bond issues as well as domestic and international investment advisory services. The bank also offers cutting-edge treasury solutions to meet the growing business demands of its institutional, corporate and private banking clients.
The spokesman stresses that it offers cutting-edge financial solutions designed to keep pace with the customer’s business and which are tailor-made to his needs. He adds it has the staff, expertise and technology to deliver the solutions.
 NBO was the first Omani bank to introduce an online banking service through netbank.nbo.co.om.
A leading private sector investor holds 34.9 per cent of the shares and another 27 per cent is controlled by public sector agencies. The remaining equity is held by private investors.
 “From being the first home-grown bank in the Sultanate of Oman, NBO has risen to the high stature of being known as the nation’s bank. With its deep sense of social responsibility, NBO regularly participates in fund-raisers and lends generous support to charitable causes and community programmes,” the spokesman goes on to say.