Muscat: Small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in Oman have great potential and Bank of Baroda (BoB) is keen on promoting them as well as the retail sector here, K.V. Rama Moorthy, chief executive officer of the bank's GCC operations, said.
"Whatever sector the government is interested in promoting, we are there," he told Gulf News during a short visit to Muscat.
He added that smaller business units offer scope.
Moorthy also reiterated that Bank of Baroda (BoB) was open for even Omani citizens.
"Omanis will be given finance to start SMEs," the BoB chief revealed.
Moorthy admitted that the Omanis had low confidence as far as BoB was concerned, but expressed confidence in the changing attitude of citizens.
"We have 90 per cent Omani staff now and they are the face of the bank, so Omani citizens will have more confidence in dealing with our bank now than in the past," he said.
Moorthy reiterated that BoB was open for Omanis for any banking service, including finance.
"It is a misconception that we are here to serve the Indian community."
Moorthy showed a lot confidence in Oman's potential and said that BoB had plans to open more branches.
Finance potential
"We have seen [the] fin-ance potential in Sohar and have applied to [the] RBI [Reserve Bank of India] to open a branch in there," he said.
During his visit, he added, the bank had also impressed upon Central Bank of Oman head that as soon as they get RBI approval they will approach Omani regulators for clearance to open a branch in Sohar.
Moorthy said they were confident of getting RBI approval and with the readiness of Omani regulators, BoB hopes to open a branch in Sohar by March 2012.
