General
Assembly of Association of National Numbering Agencies Begins in Muscat

Muscat,
2 Dec 2025 (ONA) — The Extraordinary General Assembly Meeting of the
Association of National Numbering Agencies (ANNA) began today. The meeting,
which is hosted by the Muscat Clearing and Depository Company (MCD), will
continue for several days.

The
hosting of the meeting in the Sultanate of Oman affirms the advanced position
achieved by the Omani capital market in adopting the best global standards
related to the numbering of financial instruments, enhancing transparency and
smoothness in trading, and reducing operational risks.

Hosting
this meeting, which is being held for the first time in a Gulf country, comes
within the framework of the continuous efforts of the Muscat Clearing and
Depository Company to develop the capital market infrastructure and enhance the
Sultanate of Oman’s presence on the map of international financial markets.

The
meeting also highlights the goals of the organization and its pivotal role in unifying
the language for identifying financial instruments, which contributes to
raising the efficiency of markets and facilitating the interconnection between
global financial systems.

Mohammed
bin Said Al Abri, CEO of Muscat Clearing and Depository Company, explained that
hosting the Extraordinary General Assembly Meeting of ANNA in Muscat confirms
the Sultanate of Oman’s status as a trusted financial center, and supports the consolidation
of transparency and sustainable growth in a promising investment environment.
Since the company obtained ANNA membership in 2008, it has contributed to raising
the readiness of the Omani market by numbering securities according to
international numbering standards, in addition to accessing a network of global
experts to enhance integration and innovation among different depository
centers.

Al
Abri said that CEOs and officials of depository centers and various member
financial institutions from countries around the world will be hosted to
discuss the future of financial markets and enhance integration and innovation
in central depository, which contributes to developing the infrastructure, attracting
foreign capital, and supporting the upgrade of the Muscat Stock Exchange to an
emerging market.

For
his part, Stephan Dreyer, Managing Director of the Association of National
Numbering Agencies (ANNA), explained that the ANNA General Assembly Meeting is
an important platform for discussing the future of data, enhancing
transparency, and driving the harmonization of international standards
concerned with the identification and classification of financial instruments.

Representatives
from Oman Investment Authority, the Financial Services Authority, and the
Muscat Stock Exchange are participating with working papers aimed at
introducing the sector, the available investment opportunities, and the
facilities provided to attract capital and investors.

This
hosting reflects the Sultanate of Oman’s keenness to enhance the investment
environment and adopt innovation in the market infrastructure, in line with the
path of economic diversification and the empowerment of the financial sector
according to Oman Vision 2040.

—Ends/AG