The College of Economics & Political Science at Sultan Qaboos University hosted “Pearl Initiative Award Ceremony” under the patronage of Hon. Dr. Saeed Mubarak Al Muharrami, Member of the State Council, and Associate Professor at the College on 9 May. Pearl Initiative is a leading independent private sector-led, not-for-profit institution working across the region to influence and improve corporate accountability, transparency and governance.

With the support of the Siemens Integrity Initiative, the Pearl Initiative regularly holds Case Study Competitions for business and law students from the leading universities in the Gulf region to do research and submit Case studies or corporate good practices. This year, 35 students from the College of Economics and Political Science participated in the competition along with students from leading universities in the GCC.

Speaking on the occasion, Carla Koffel, Executive Director of The Pearl Initiative, expressed her gratitude to SQU’s College of Economics & Political Science for the strong partnership between the two organizations in organizing Case Study opportunities for students. “For the last five years Pearl Initiative has involved in university students in the research and writing process. So far, more than 1000 students from 20 universities in the GCC and 300 companies have participated in this initiative. The Case studies contain information that the business community across the world, and the region in particular, can benefit from, with adoptable best practices that can be adapted to suit individual corporation's needs. Regional universities also refer to the report as teaching material”, she said.

In his address, Dr. Saeed Mubarak Al Muharrami congratulated the students from different GCC universities who participated in this competition and worked very hard to write good governance case studies about GCC companies. “At the core of global economic crisis in 2008 is a collapse of trust in the capital markets.  The lack of accountability, proper regulatory controls and transparency all played a role in that financial crisis. There had been insufficient respect for values that incorporate ethical dimensions while addressing profitability. Therefore, investors not only need to look at the short-term benefits but also look into how the business will be in long run. Decisions on investment are not just about returns but are also about ensuring healthy, productive and sustainable economies and societies”, he said. In this regard, he lauded the efforts of the Pearl Initiative for its efforts to improve corporate accountability, transparency and governance.

Damien O’Riordan, Head of Internal Audit, Bank Muscat gave the keynote address on the occasion.

Students from CEPS, Mariam Habib Juma Al-Lawati and Rawiya Mohammed Juma Al-Harthi who did their case study about Bank Muscat came in the fourth position and Siham Salim Al-Hadhrami and Zainab Abdullah Al-Hinai, who did a case study about Public Authority for Consumer Protection (PACP) came in the fifth position in the top 10 winners’ list of the  GCC wide case study competition.