Dr Qais Issa Al Yahyai, Executive Vice President, Central Bank of Oman

The world has changed. How our industry – Islamic banking, finance and investment – chooses to respond to these changes may be a generation defining moment. How can Islamic finance mobilize to address the imminent challenges of the real economy and provide not just liquidity support, but solvency support to the vital SME and corporate sector? Can Islamic finance in Oman use this opportunity to become truly responsible, inclusive and ethical, while at the same time contributing to the Sultanate’s growth and development? How can we as an industry ensure this is substance over form on a permanent basis? What opportunities do the UN Principles for Responsible Banking offer Islamic financial institutions in Oman? How can the core values of Islamic finance be further applied to sustainable and socially responsible finance and investment strategies? Considering these factors, we ask a respected panel for a roadmap to success for Islamic banking, finance and capital markets in Oman.

Assessing the Omani Rial Sovereign Sukuk program and asking what it means for the Sultanate’s domestic capital market. How was the Oman’s first REIT received by the market? What do innovative equity-linked investment products such as Exchange Traded Funds offer local investors and what are the pros and cons of these and other passive investment tools? What can technology, particularly tools such as Blockchain, offer capital market innovation in Oman? What role can pandemic and disaster recovery bonds play and how can Islamic finance solutions feature? How can Sustainable Development Goal 3 – promoting health and wellbeing – be made an achievable priority and what do SDG bonds, and potentially SDG Sukuk, offer? Lastly, we examine the Sultanate’s infrastructure requirements in the coming years and ask what can be funded through Islamic facilities, how can risk be effectively managed and do public/private partnerships offer a viable opportunity?

What are the major challenges and opportunities facing Omani banks in their digitization programs and strategies for the adoption of financial technology? How is digitization within local banks driving effective segmentation and the development of ever more efficient product delivery channels? What opportunities do Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology offer Islamic financial institutions and consumers in Oman? Where do crowdfunding and peer-to-peer lending potentially fit in the Omani financial system and what can be done to develop and nurture these important components? Where and how can FinTech play a meaningful role in key Islamic social financial activities such as Takaful, Zakat and Waqf?