OMAN - Decision Makers - Ahmad Bin Abdel Nabi Makki.

In October 1995 Makki was made deputy premier for economic and financial affairs to replace Qais Al Zawawi who died in a car accident on Sept. 11, 1995. On Dec. 19, 1995 Makki was made minister of economy and acting minister of finance.

Sultan Qaboos used to retain the finance portfolio to himself, along with those of defence and foreign affairs. Giving it to Makki meant the latter was to become an influential figure in the government. Previously, Makki was minister of civil service in charge of the Omanisation drive (one of the Sultan's top priorities) and deputy chairman of the Central Bank.

On Dec. 16, 1997, Makki was reconfirmed as minister of economy and finance and was given the development portfolio which he integrated into his ministry. As a result he has become more powerful. Previously the development ministry was under Mohammed Bin Mousa Al Yousef, a long-standing proponent of privatisation who retired from the cabinet.

In his Dec. 16, 1997 cabinet reshuffle, where the changes were limited, the Sultan retained Rajiha Bint Abdel Amir, a prominent woman technocrat, as undersecretary for development affairs but she was placed under Makki. Sultan Qaboos appointed two other women to senior positions: Fawzia Nasser Al Farisi, as undersecretary at the education ministry; and Thuwayba Ahmad Al Barawan, as undersecretary for social affairs at the ministry of labour and social affairs.

Makki also succeeded Zawawi as deputy chairman of the Supreme Council for Economic Planning and the Financial Affairs Council. In January, 1996, the economy ministry's secretary general Mohammed Bin Nasser Al Khasibi was made vice president of Oman Oil Co. (OOC). Previously, Khasibi was head of Zawawi's office.

Shaikh Abdel Aziz Bin Matar Al Azizi, governor of Nizwa, was in October 1995 made minister of the civil service to replace Makki. Health Minister Ali Bin Mohammed Bin Mousa was given Makki's other position as deputy chairman of the Central Bank.

Commerce and Industry Minister Maqbool Bin Ali Bin Sultan and Makki were behind the merger in mid-1997 of Oman Development Bank (ODB) and the Oman Bank for Agriculture & Fisheries (OBAF). The merged entity, called ODB and headed by Murtadha Fadhil (the CEO of the original ODB), now provides financing for all small farming, fishing, industrial, commercial and service projects. Only ventures with a total investment of less than OR250,000 ($650,000) are entitled to ODB support. Previously, ODB used to finance any project with the limit that each individual loan was no more than 10% of the bank's net worth.

Now loan terms have been standardised for all projects. Borrowers pay 3% interest and loans of up to 10 years with a five-year grace period are available. Very small loans are interest free.

Makki, the key man in the sultanate's privatisation programme, has backed all private ventures in the fields of infrastructure, the power business such as the new IPPs ventures, and the downstream oil and gas industries. He is to be a keynote speaker at a conference to be held in Abu Dhabi on March 14-15, 2000. The conference is to discuss energy, infrastructure and project finance in the Middle East.

Makki's address will cover the following points: "progressive initiatives, development projects and financing in Oman; establishing the political will by the government to privatise; how the region facilitates private investment; opportunities and incentives for investment in Oman; foreign investment in Oman; the regulatory framework (in the sultanate); and the government's strategy for future infrastructure projects".

Makki has the Sultan's ears on many matters, including relations with the US and other Western powers. In one of his previous positions, Makki was Oman's ambassador to Washington.