MUSCAT, 18 July 2011 – BankMuscat, the leading financial services provider in the Sultanate, is hosting a presentation on ‘Challenges Facing the World Economy in the Coming Decade, Sustainable Development and Eradication of Poverty’ by Prof. Jeffrey D Sachs, renowned international economic advisor. The high-profile event to be held on 31 July at the Bank’s head office will be attended by policy-makers, ambassadors, senior government and corporate officials. 


Prof. Jeffrey D Sachs was named as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2004 and 2005 and is currently a Director at The Earth Institute at Columbia University and Co-Chair of the Advisory Committee of Vale Columbia Centre on Sustainable International Investment. Prof. Sachs is Special Advisor to Ban Ki-Moon, Secretary-General of the United Nations. He also served as Director of the UN Millennium Project from 2002 to 2006, and Special Advisor to Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of UN, on Development Goals – the internationally agreed goals to reduce extreme poverty, disease and hunger by 2015.


Prof. Sachs spent over 20 years at Harvard University - most recently as Director of the Center for International Development and Galen L. Stone Professor of International Trade. He has been closely associated with global policy initiatives to confront challenges of economic development and poverty alleviation, thereby promoting enlightened globalisation to benefit from expanding economic opportunities. His research interests include economic geography, international financial markets, international macroeconomic policy coordination, emerging markets and global competitiveness.


In December 2010, BankMuscat hosted the advisory board meeting of Vale Columbia Centre on Sustainable International Investment. The Vale Columbia Centre, which is a joint initiative of Columbia Law School and The Earth Institute at Columbia University, promotes the analysis of trends in foreign direct investment (FDI), the consequences of FDI for sustainable development and the consideration of appropriate public polices for sustainable foreign direct investment. The Vale Columbia Centre Advisory Board comprises scholars, policy makers, development advocates and other stakeholders of issues related to foreign direct investment (FDI) in the global economy.