14 May 2013
Muscat: International Finance Corporation's (IFC) total investment in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region for the fiscal year ending June, 2012 touched $2.9 billion, despite political instability in the region, according to a senior official of the multilateral funding agency.
"This also include mobilisation of funds to the tune of $700 million," said Dimitris Tsitsiragos, IFC Vice-President for Europe, Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa. He was addressing a media conference to announce the conclusion of Bank Muscat's private placement of shares in favour of IFC and its affiliate.
He said IFC also launched 27 advisory projects to improve access to finance and supported corporate governance in the Mena region. Saying that Oman faces several challenges in economic development, the IFC official noted that the unemployment level in the country is high at 24 per cent. "The private sector is the main source of jobs."
Emphasising on the importance of SMEs in creating jobs, he said SMEs are the backbone of most economies in the Mena region and Oman is not an exception. However, small businesses find it difficult to get finance as SMEs in GCC countries constitute only two per cent of bank loans. "Women entrepreneurs find it difficult to get access to finance for their business in the Mena region. Last year, 64 per cent of female business owners encountered problem in getting finance, according to the findings of a recent IFC survey.
Muscat: International Finance Corporation's (IFC) total investment in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region for the fiscal year ending June, 2012 touched $2.9 billion, despite political instability in the region, according to a senior official of the multilateral funding agency.
"This also include mobilisation of funds to the tune of $700 million," said Dimitris Tsitsiragos, IFC Vice-President for Europe, Central Asia, Middle East and North Africa. He was addressing a media conference to announce the conclusion of Bank Muscat's private placement of shares in favour of IFC and its affiliate.
He said IFC also launched 27 advisory projects to improve access to finance and supported corporate governance in the Mena region. Saying that Oman faces several challenges in economic development, the IFC official noted that the unemployment level in the country is high at 24 per cent. "The private sector is the main source of jobs."
Emphasising on the importance of SMEs in creating jobs, he said SMEs are the backbone of most economies in the Mena region and Oman is not an exception. However, small businesses find it difficult to get finance as SMEs in GCC countries constitute only two per cent of bank loans. "Women entrepreneurs find it difficult to get access to finance for their business in the Mena region. Last year, 64 per cent of female business owners encountered problem in getting finance, according to the findings of a recent IFC survey.
© Times of Oman 2013
