Omani banks have been urged to provide funding for projects in the sultanate as European banks’ appetite for project finance in the region wanes.

“Omani banks must step up,” said Sayyid Wasfi Jamshid al-Said, deputy general manager and head of investment banking, National Bank of Oman, at MEED’s Oman Investment conference. “The government and government agencies need to provide support.”

European banks have reduced their exposure to projects in the Oman and elsewhere in the region as they continue to wrestle with debt problems in their home markets.

Oman has a large number of planned projects that will support the economic and social development of the sultanate. According to regional projects tracker MEED Projects there are currently more than $41bn of projects either in the study or design stage.