A class act
The OER Top 20 Debate and Awards gave a ringside view on the State of the Sultanate's Economy and rewarded the best performing listed companies. An OER report

On May 31, 2009 all roads (for CEO’s) led to the Capital Market Authority -- the venue for the first OER Top 20 Debate and Awards. Going by the Chairmen and CEO’s assembled at the gathering one could safely assume that over half of the corporate sectors networth had assembled at the CMA. Leaders of industry, ministers, dignitaries and representatives of the international and local media were all there. The anticipation for the event had been building up over the last two weeks of May and it was time now to throw open the doors for the real thing.

Welcoming the guests, Sandeep Sehgal, CEO, United Media Services said, “While most part of 2008 there was a lot of buoyancy; we all have lived through how it has welcomed 2009 and are embracing 2009 with all its challenges that have been summed up time and again as being the issue of ‘sentiment.” H E Yahya al Jabri, Executive President, Capital Market Authority elucidated the purpose of the debate stating, “The purpose of the debate is not just to indulge in an intellectually stimulating exercise, but an initiative to give industry ideas and solutions for their respective businesses. If all of us can go back with a few definite takeaways from today’s debate, it would be well worth the effort.” Delivering the keynote address, H E Maqbool bin Ali Sultan, the Minister of Commerce and Industry and the guest of honour mentioned that the Sultanate’s economy has grown by leaps and bounds since the blessed Renaissance began in 1970. “The GDP has grown 185-fold from $270mn in 1970 to around $50bn last year. Per capita income has soared 50-fold from $400 in 1970 to $20,000 in 2008.”

The debate on the ‘Global Financial Crisis and its impact on the Sultanates economy’ saw the panelists and the audience discussing various aspects of the economy. Speaking during the course of the debate, Abdulrazak Ali Essa, Chief Executive, BankMuscat, said, “The economic crisis may have eased, but the financial crisis is far from over and we need to wait till the fourth quarter to see the real impact.” Stephen Thomas, CEO, Renaissance Services echoed the view, “There are still uncertainties ahead, not least volatility of oil price; but 2008 oil revenue windfalls, prudent fiscal policy and stringent bank lending regulations has left Oman and other GCC economies in a good position to weather the global crisis.” Faisal al Hashar, Managing Director, Shell Oman Marketing Company added that while the current growth may be slow it is acceptable in the light of the global crisis. Some panelists gave insights about how they were negotiating the crisis. “We are working on giving solutions to corporate houses and better management,” said Dr Amer al Rawas, CEO, Omantel. Hans Meiring, COO, Oman Cables said that the company is working on better inventory management and has started manufacturing ancillary products in Oman rather than importing them. Murray Sims, CEO, NBO struck a cautious note, “We are witnessing the first signs of a deterioration in asset quality, as banks in the region have started defaulting on their debt.” But Hans Erlings, CEO, Galfar sounded upbeat, “The future is stable and we have not really experienced any slowdown.” The debate was moderated by Philip Stanton, Managing Partner, Ernst&Young. Says Alpana Roy, Vice President, UMS, “The OER Top 20 Debate generated an overwhelming response from various stakeholders with business leaders from every sector participating in the deliberations and gaining from the incisive ideas and insights thrown up by the debate.”

The debate was followed by an awards ceremony in which The OER Top 20 companies were awarded OER Top 20 trophies by H H Sayyid Tarik bin Shabib, Editor-in-Chief, Oman Economic Review, HE Maqbool Ali Sultan and HE Yahya al Jabri. The winners included Omantel, Galfar Engineering and Construction, BankMuscat, Shell Oman Marketing , Oman Cables Industry, Renaissance Services, Al Maha Petroleum, Oman Oil Marketing Company, National Bank of Oman, Oman Holdings International, Raysut Cement, Oman Cement Co, Areej Vegetable Oils and Derivatives, Bank Dhofar, Oman International Bank, Oman Flour Mills Company, Ominvest, Al Hassan Engineering, Al Anwar Holdings and Al Jazeera Steel Products. Al Madina Financial and Investment Services Company and Bank Sohar partnered the event while Times of Oman was the media partner. ‘A great start’, ‘One of the best corporate events ever staged in Oman’ and ‘Wow’ were some of the responses that the OER Top 20 debate generated. Having set a new benchmark, we were more critical and some may say unduly harsh in our assessment of the event -- the tone of the debate was a bit tepid, it lacked firepower and could have been more provocative were some of the responses that our colleagues came up with. We promise to go back to the drawing board and welcome business leaders to a far more powerful and dynamic OER Top 20 debate in 2010. Till then – let the debate continue.

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