Salalah Guests Fill City for Eid Holidays and Beyond

Salalah Hilton Resort

Tourists not only from Oman but from all over the Gulf Cooperation Council states descended on Salalah for the four days of Eid, many of them remaining even after the conclusion of the holiday.

Restaurants, hotels, and the streets of Salalah were full of happy visitors whose numbers were estimated by officials to reach 94,713. Said Rafeet of the Ministry of Tourism in Dhofar said that tourist began arriving in the resort town between August 19 and 22. Omani citizens comprised the majority of visitors at about 65 percent, with about 30 percent coming from the UAE.

"On the second day of Eid alone, 33,522 people came to Salalah,” explained Said. "This is the biggest in the season! The tourists meant exceptionally good business for hotels and restaurants, but also caused shortages. The petrol station at Haima, on the way to Dhofar, ran out of fuel, as did a second one along the road.”

Apparently the tourist industry was not prepared for such a huge inundation of guests to their city.

"There was a shortage of food. Our suppliers were short on chicken, beef and bread. The number of tourists affects all the normal services here,” said Shady Morgan, Assistant Director of Sales at the Hilton Salalah Resort.

The huge number of people also created unpleasant traffic jams.

“It takes at least hour to get through the traffic lights at Lulu Hypermarket. We're like Dubai at this time,” said Morgan "You should plan before you go or take shortcuts.”

Most of the Omani visitors have returned home to get back to their usual schedules, but a large number of Emirate visitors stayed for a bit longer. The Salalah Hilton reports that this week they were operating at between 85 and 100 percent capacity, and businesses elsewhere are still crowded.

"Still most of the people from the GCC are here,” commented Said. "The restaurants, the hotels and stores are still busy. Business is still good.”

Eight Local Builders Vying for In-Flight Catering Contract

The Newly Expanded Muscat International Airport

As Muscat Airport continues with its plans to forge ahead with a major expansion of its facility, eight separate local construction firms are fighting for the rights to build a large in-flight catering complex.

The complex will be part of the multibillion dollar renewal of the airport which will also include an opulent passenger terminal, state-of-the-art baggage processing, high-tech cargo terminal, modern transport systems for patrons, cutting edge air traffic management system and ultra-modern aircraft hangars. The renovations will place Muscat as a major hub for international travel.

The $5 billion project is being overseen by the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, which will determine which of eight contenders will be awarded the contract to build the in-flight catering complex. This contract is one of only two major contracts outstanding from an original collection of 13 main projects needed for the overall construction of the new airport.

The eight construction companies include Carillion Alawi, Hanjin Heavy Industries & Construction, Strabag Oman, Bahwan Contracting Co, Larsen & Toubro (Oman), Muhibbah Engineering (Malaysia), Joannou & Paraskevaides (Overseas) and Galfar Engineering & Contracting.

The complex will be capable of preparing as many as 24,000 meals per day, and will use about 26,000 square meters of space. Not only will Oman Air avail itself of the food service, but other airlines which operate out of Muscat International Airport will utilize the new facility for their food needs.

The new Muscat International Airport is scheduled for completion in late 2014.

Sharia- Compliant Al Izz Islamic Bank to Issue IPO Soon After Eid Holiday

Al Izz Islamic Bank

Islam’s second Sharia-compliant bank could be approved for an IPO as early as next month if all goes smoothly as regulators examine the application of Al Izz Islamic Bank, headquartered in Muscat, Oman.

Observers say that officials at the bank are moving full steam ahead and issue managers are also making a large effort to have everything ready for the bank’s IPO to happen as soon as possible after the Eid holiday, most likely that will mean September.

The only problematic link in the progress of obtaining approval will come from CMA, the market overseer for compliance, which has still not bestowed final approval for Al Izz Islamic Bank’s IPO, although they have received an “in principal” approval from the regulatory board.

Interested parties have said that getting approval is not a major stumbling block, as it can take only one day for approval to be granted, and within a week the issue can be allowed. The subscription period however must be a full 30 days.

Oman to Tackle Unemployment Problem with Money from Oil Windfall Profits

An unnamed source has revealed that in response to a windfall in oil revenue in Oman over the past six months the Sultanate has decided to spend about $1 billion in additional monies to create jobs for its citizens over the coming year.

"We had a very good income from oil revenues in the first six months of the year," an official from Oman’s planning department told the press. "Not only do we expect to comfortably balance the budget, but we will use $1 billion of that windfall to create jobs in the next 12 months from September."

The official did not detail any specifics of the plan, such as how the money will be spent or whether the jobs will be concentrated in the public or private sector, or both.

Oman, which is not associated with OPEC, revealed at the beginning of August that the government collected 35 percent more in revenue than over the same time last year. The take for the first six months reached $19.1 billion due to the influence of surging oil prices and increased production.

The increase in revenue resulted in a bulge in the government’s budget surplus amounting to 1.61 billion rials, which was four times the surplus of the preceding year.

There is an unemployment problem in Oman which the Sultanate would like to address. According to the manpower ministry there are about 22,000 Omani citizens who are in search of jobs, out of a total of 2 million of employable Omanis.

"About 15,000 graduates are looking for jobs this summer and the rest, from that figure of 22,000, are a backlog of jobless who have not found jobs since the beginning of the year," the official from the manpower ministry said.

The International Monetary Fund, using census data taken in 2010, has estimated the unemployment rate in Oman to be about 24.4 percent. According the IMF Oman will need to create 45,000 new private sector jobs per year to absorb all the new workers emerging each year, and to lower the unemployment rate to a reasonable amount. The IMF admitted that it could also be possible that the number it used for its unemployment figure may also include people who are not looking for jobs.

Importers Agree to Price Freeze on Livestock During Ramadan

Sheep for Feast of Eid al Fitr

A spokesman for Al Batina Livestock, a leading importer of Australian livestock into Oman, announced that his company will adhere to the request of the government to refrain from any price hikes during the holy month of Ramadan.

The Sultanate is working hard to keep food prices during Ramadan under control, and a key element in stable prices is a price freeze on the cost of meat. Al Batna has agreed to maintain their prices at the present level until at least after the Eid al Fitr holiday.

"We agreed to cap our prices at last year's retail selling price of RO 90 per head of Australian sheep as a gesture of support for the government's efforts to rein in food prices during Ramadan," the representative said.

Job Opportunities Exploding in UAE and Other Gulf States

Sanjay Modi, Managing Director of Monster.com

Over the course of the past year available jobs as listed on the internet has soared in the UAE by 33 percent. The figure, which was announced by the monthly Monster Employment Index, is based on online job posting activity which the index tracks in 12 leading industry sectors in the six GGC countries and in Egypt.

June’s Monster Index shows that the UAE leads the rest in the increase in online job postings over the past twelve months, while Kuwait followed closely with a 30 percent increase in job opportunities from June 2011 until June 2012. Qatar was tracked with a 23 percent gain.

Overall the increase was even more impressive, growing by an incredible 39 percent annually. Only Saudi Arabia did not grow in the double digits, expanding by only 2 percent for the year in its online job opportunities.

In Egypt job openings posted online surged by 15 percent, while in Bahrain and Oman online job listings increased by 18 and 20 percent respectively.

Xpress Money Offering Lower Fees to Expat Indians

Xpress Money Offering Flat Fee to Expat Indians in Oman

In honor of the festive month of Ramadan, Xpress Money, a company that facilitates cash transfers overseas, will be lowering their service fee to the flat amount of 1.70 Omani Rial ($4.40) for transfers of any denomination made to India during the Holy month.

Xpress Money is one of the world’s fastest growing cash transfer service companies, and this new flat fee is considered to be the most competitive among the other remittance service providers in Oman.

"The Holy Month of Ramadan is very special to us and we are happy to launch this special promotion which will be of great value to our customers. This initiative falls in line with our commitment to provide affordable and easily accessible money transfer services" said Mr. Sudhesh Giriyan, the chief of Xpress Money.

"India is a critical market for us. Apart from being one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, it is also the largest 'receive' market globally, with inward remittances upwards of USD 64 billion in 2011. Since it is such a high volume market, we are tapping into the efficiencies of scale that our extensive networks in Oman and India can generate and passing on the savings to our customers" Giriyan added.

Omantel Introduces 4G Service at Sultan Qaboos University

Amer al Rawas, CEO of Omantel

Omantel’s CEO Dr. Amer al Rawas said that the climax of their 500 million Omani riyal investment (1.3 billion USD) is the latest telecommunication service, 4G LTE.

For now the 4G service will only be available at SQU and certain places in Muscat, Buraimi and Khasab only, at least of the time being. Al Rawas explained that Omantel did studies which showed that there was high demand for 3.5G services in just those places.

Admitting that there are some problems which operators may face with compatible frequencies, al Rawas said “The government has announced allocation of 15 million riyals to resolve the frequency problems.”

“We have set up 50 stations for the 4G services and plan to increase to 200 stations in future,” the CEO said.
The company first tried the 4G network at SQU.

“The traffic at SQU is high for 3.5G as students use it for gaming as well as for their study use,” al Rawas said. He added that the trial was highly successful at SQU and it will most likely lead to the establishment of five “hot-spots” at SQU for the 4G service.

Prices to Remain Steady in Oman During Ramadan

Consumers in Oman

Oman’s Public Authority for Consumer Protection (PACP) is working together with the Ministry of Commerce to assure the public that there will not be any precipitous price rises in food staples and other necessary items as a result of the coming Ramadan season.

Despite the fact that consumers tend to spend more during Ramadan, the PACP is going to monitor retailers carefully so that they do not engage in price manipulation or in any other form of price gauging during a time when it would be easy to take advantage of a public which is engaged in observing the holiday.

"The prices of essential commodities have been somewhat constant since the beginning of this year, and will continue to be so throughout Ramadan. We have received all the assurances from suppliers regarding this. No malpractice of any sort will be tolerated, and consumers have the right to report them to us. Offenders will be dealt with as per the law," one official of the PACP declared.

It has been common practice in the past for such items as flour, bread, sugar, rice, vegetables, fruit, chicken, beef, mutton and eggs to rise parallel to the increased demand during Ramadan. This year, however, the traders in these goods stocked up adequate supplies to meet increased demand.

"We have enough stocks of all commodities to meet the projected demand. We don't find any reason to hike the prices," says Ananth A V, Country Manager, Lulu Hypermarket. “Any rise in the prices at the sources of imports, it will not affect us. At any cost we will maintain status quo on the prices."

"Despite increased demand, we expect the prices of staple food to remain at the present level. We also have a mechanism to prevent any rise," he says.

"There is good flow of vegetables from local producers without much fluctuation in the prices. Often what happens is that retailers do not buy directly from them. The supply chain is well exploited by the middlemen. They charge exorbitantly before the commodities reach the consumers," said Naveej Vinod, the Executive Director of Mars Hypermarket.

Auris Opening Hotel in Port of Sohar

Hatem Gasmi

The managing director of Dubai-based Auris Hotel Management, Hatem Gasmi, announced that his company will be opening a new four-star, 70-room hotel in Sohar within the next eight months, making it the first property outside Dubai launched by Auris.

The hotel will be located approximately 12 kilometers from Sohar’s airport and will be receiving business as well as leisure guests to the port city.

Gasmi said, "We are in the final stages of design and furnishing – everything is there. It will cater to the needs of the business traveler in Sohar."

The hotel will make a point of attracting family guests by instituting a non-alcohol policy on the premises. Business guests will be enticed with a conference area which can accommodate 200 people in two rooms; a business lounge; two restaurants; and separate health clubs for men and women.

Gasmi stated that the investments which the government made totaling $12 billion towards building up the area will turn Sohar into a “major industrial hub.”