OIA releases 'Code of Governance'

Muscat: Oman Investment Authority (OIA) has published ‘the Code of Governance, as part of the efforts to organize the work of these entities, improve their performance, align their plans with sustainable development plans to achieve economic and strategic balance, encourage efficient utilization of financial and human resources, and enhance the culture of accountability and transparency.

It is important to enhance the governance of its companies, the performance financially and operationally for better productivity.

The code will ensure the efficiency of boards of directors and executive management.

Expectations

• • Improve the efficiency of these companies to work at a commercial and economic capacity
  • Achieve transparency, responsibility, and accountability by avoiding conflict of Interest
  • A diverse background of expertise in boards of directors
  • Maximizing the value of equity.

Prominent features

• • Annual reports to be submitted to OIA
  • A clear policy for disclosure and profit distribution
  • The board to not have ministers and undersecretaries
  • Reasonable compensation for attending meetings.
  • Self-declaration of personal assets upon appointment.

Highlights

• • OIA said that the most prominent features of the new procurement and tender policy will be to maximize the local added value and empower small and medium enterprises.
  • About 10 percent of tenders and purchases will be allocated to small and medium-sized companies.
  • He said that any purchase contracts worth RO10,000 will go to small and medium enterprises.
  • Nasser al-Harthy, Deputy Chairman of the Oman Investment Authority for Operations, reviewed the process of merging the two sovereign investment funds, the State General Reserve Fund and the Omani Investment Fund, which led to the establishment of OIA.
  • OIA supplemented the budget with RO5 billion.
  • The rationalization program resulted in the saving of RO80 million in 2021, and it is expected to save about RO120 million between 2022 and 2023.
  • The subsidiaries were directed to pay the dues of the contracted SMEs within 15 days.
  • The new disclosure policy will include the type of information that will be disclosed to the target audience – stakeholders or the general public.
  • Loss-making companies are two types – Companies making losses for mismanagement and companies making losses due to the current economic conditions.
  • Performance indicators have been set for the boards of directors of state-owned companies for the first time in the Sultanate of Oman.