In line with its commitment to sustainability, Bank Muscat, the leading financial services provider in the Sultanate, has signed an agreement with Google to train Bank Muscat customers on digital skills using the ‘Maharat min Google’ programme. This collaboration comes as a continuing effort by the bank to provide non-financial services to both customers and the public as part of its sustainability initiatives.

The long-term agreement with Google was formalised after positive feedback received from an earlier training on ‘Fundamentals of Digital Marketing’, which was attended by 30 Najahi customers. The second session was recently conducted using Google Meet and was attended by more than 80 participants. The new digital marketing course is open to Najahi customers as well as SME owners and individuals interested in enhancing their digital marketing skills. The bank expects more entrepreneurs to take advantage of this free course in the coming months and use it to build their business and increase customer recall of their brand.

Abdullah Al Jufaili, Head, Retail Enterprises (Najahi), Bank Muscat, said: “We are happy to see the excellent response from this joint initiative launched in collaboration with Google to leverage the power of the World Wide Web and digital resources in building a brand. The importance of having a good online presence, digital marketing and reaching out to potential customers is all the more relevant now in this rapidly changing world. The bank is happy to provide more non-financial support and play a key role in handholding entrepreneurs in their journey towards building great businesses.”

Youssef Al-Maamari of Qawaser Sohar Trading Company, who was one of the participants, thanked Bank Muscat Najahi for organising the training programme in partnership with Google. He said that the training would be used by the participants to further develop their skills and also for business development and marketing of their products and services.

Abdullah bin Thani Al-Obaidani, owner of Modern Dhofar Centre for Digital Photography, said that he benefitted greatly from participating in this training on the basics of digital marketing. This programme improved knowledge about digital marketing and shed light on important points that were previously unknown. He added that he hoped to participate in more such useful courses in the future.

The launch of ‘Maharat min Google’ training follows the starting of the Najahi Talks programme earlier in 2019. It adds further to the knowledge-sharing platform that Bank Muscat presents to the SME entrepreneur community as part of its sustainability programmes. Najahi Talks provides vital non-financial support to entrepreneurs and provides a setting where guest speakers share success stories with budding entrepreneurs. Najahi Talks facilitates knowledge-sharing through panel discussions, addresses by guest speakers, Q&A sessions and also provide networking opportunities that often go on to create long-term business opportunities for young Omani entrepreneurs.

Bank Muscat’s unique CSR programmes have been redefining public-private partnership in making lasting contributions to society and the nation. More than being just a financial services provider, the bank has always pushed itself to be an enabler of sustainable development for the community and the nation. It has aligned its activities with Oman’s Vision 2040 and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to deliver long term benefits. The bank is engaged in a number of activities to promote Financial Inclusion, Financial Literacy, SME Development, Education, Youth, Sports and Alternative Energy. It is also constantly innovating in response to changing circumstances and regularly launches new programmes to address emerging concerns.