BankMuscat, a leading financial services provider in Oman, said it has signed a strategic pact with Bank of China to offer payments in Chinese currency Yuan.

With this tieup, BankMuscat becomes the first Omani bank to enable payments in the Chinese currency, said a statement from the bank.

BankMuscat opened a Yuan account with Bank of China to facilitate trade-related payments between Oman and China.

The Yuan account marks another important milestone under the agreement to tap into the huge trade and investment flows between China and Oman as well the larger GCC region, the Omani bank stated.

"BankMuscat’s clients can now settle payments for their trade transactions in the Chinese currency. The account has been opened as part of the business co-operation agreement between BankMuscat and Bank of China," it added.

Commenting on the development, AbdulRazak Ali Issa, chief executive of BankMuscat, said: "China has emerged as a major trading partner to most of the countries in the world and has been promoting the use of its currency for trade settlements."

"BankMuscat is proud to provide the Yuan payment facility to our customers which will help them trade with their Chinese counterparts on preferential terms. The arrangement will provide further fillip to the already robust trade flows between the two countries,” he added.
 
Bank of China is ranked 14th by tier one capital in the world and is the most internationalised of Chinese banks, proactive in promoting trade flows and serving the banking requirements of Sino-Omani commercial players.-TradeArabia News Service