Oman Credit and Financial Information Center (Mala’a) and BENEFIT Bahrain Sign a Bilateral Agreement

Oman Credit and Financial Information Center (Mala’a) signs a bilateral agreement with Benefit Bahrain Credit Reference Bureau, which falls under efforts aimed at enhancing frameworks of mutual cooperation among the Gulf Arab countries.

The agreement was signed by Mala’a’s general manager, Bassam Al-Jamali, and Abdulwahed Al-Janahi, the CEO of BENEFIT. Signing this agreement highlights the strategic cooperation in exchanging credit information between the Gulf countries. This is in line with the Supreme Council of the Gulf Cooperation Council’s decision issued at the Council’s meeting in its thirty-seventh annual session in 2016.

Bassam Al-Jamali announced “We are pleased to sign this bilateral agreement between Mala’a and Benefit. This agreement aims to support exchange of credit and financial information enhancing cooperation between both entities, and exchange expertise between the center and its counterparts in the GCC countries. Additionally, it aims to support the banking sector across the GCC countries, improve frameworks for credit and financial risk management, and facilitate the exchange of credit and information data for both natural and legal persons to verify their creditworthiness.”

On the other hand, Abdulwahed Al Janahi expressed his delight in finalizing the agreement with Mala’a, saying: “I am very thrilled to be announcing that we have signed a bilateral agreement with Mala’a. This move will benefit not only Bahrain and the Sultanate of Oman, as its effects will ripple across the whole GCC. We are all working towards the important and common goal of enhancing the credit information industry in the region. I can confirm that our rigorous studies of the credit market and the challenges and opportunities that surround it are ongoing, and this agreement comes as a great milestone in this process”.

The agreement includes approving the exchange of credit information among GCC countries according to the action plan and a comprehensive framework for the mechanism of facilitating the exchange of credit information among GCC countries.