​MUSCAT, 23 May 2018

Meethaq, the pioneer of Islamic banking in Oman from Bank Muscat, in line with the bank’s vision ‘To serve you better, everyday’ and commitment to promoting public-private partnership, hosted H.E. Abdulsalam Bin Mohammed Al Murshidi, Chief Executive Officer of the State General Reserve Fund, in the 15‫th Majlis Meethaq event held at Bank Muscat head office, in the presence of Sulaiman Al Yahyai, Deputy Chairman of Bank Muscat, Abdul Razak Ali Issa, Chief Executive, dignitaries, Management Team members and senior officials from the government and private sector institutions. In a wide-ranging discussion at the social and cultural evening, H.E. Al Murshidi shared interesting aspects of his personal and professional life and views on the Sultanate’s economy and potential as an investment destination.

The Majlis Meethaq forum is a unique initiative aimed at presenting successful role models and highlighting their achievements to motivate and inspire citizens, especially youth, to attain success in life. The social forum hosts well-known economic, social, religious or cultural persona having an influence on Omani society to motivate citizens with inspirational aspects of their life and career.

The interaction with H.E. Al Murshidi focused on his career, personal life, as well as views and perspective on the economy and important social and cultural issues. H.E. Al Murshidi highlighted the opportunities and challenges he faced in his career spanning important responsibilities.

During the early days, H.E Al Murshidi set up a start-up venture and later established other business ventures. He enjoyed doing business, some of which were successful and some posed challenges. The business pursuits helped him learn many lessons, especially the need for proper planning to identify investment opportunities and turn challenges into opportunities and gains.

H.E Al Murshidi was associated with several leading investment institutions and companies, serving as a member of Board of Directors, which paved the way for his position with the State General Reserve Fund. He noted that the investment strategy of the Fund is very professional to achieve excellent returns. The Fund has raised its investments in the Sultanate to 10% covering a number of promising sectors such as health, food, real estate, technology, financial and other sectors, he added.

H.E. Al Murshidi also highlighted personal achievements and pointed out that citizens must take advantage of opportunities offered by the government for education, training and employment to achieve success in life and career.

Sulaiman Al Harthy, Deputy Chief Executive Officer – Islamic Banking, said: “Meethaq is proud to host H.E. Abdulsalam Bin Mohammed Al Murshidi and highlight his contributions as a role model for Omani youth. We thank H.E. Al Murshidi for addressing the session and enlightening the audience on opportunities and challenges he faced in making crucial decisions which led to his success. The Islamic finance industry is growing rapidly worldwide and we are happy the forum facilitated an insightful interaction with H.E. Al Murshidi to explore new possibilities and collaborations in Islamic banking and finance vis-à-vis the development and investment opportunities in Oman.”

Meethaq is the leading Islamic financial services provider in the Sultanate with many achievements contributing to the Sultanate’s economy. Meethaq extends support to all key sectors in the Sultanate and is focused on developing as a benchmark Islamic financial services provider in Oman and the region.

Within five years of operations, Meethaq has crossed the milestone of RO 1 billion in assets. Presently, Meethaq accounts for over 33% market share in terms of assets and is the market leader in Islamic banking in Oman.

As the pioneer of Islamic banking in Oman, Meethaq recognises the immense investment prospects and potential that Oman offers and is committed to supporting strategic national development initiatives in line with Oman's Vision 2040 economic blueprint. Meethaq financing receivables rose to RO 1011 million at the end of 31 March 2018 compared to RO 902 million in the same period in 2017, registering an increase of 12.1%.