Speaking on this occasion last October, His Majesty the Sultan affirmed that “the restoration of normalcy to public life and the supply of basic life needs to citizens tops our priorities” and he reiterated that “the ministerial committee comes under our direct supervision”.
He pledged that he would follow-up the tasks and achievements of the committee to ensure that the panel provides assistance as soon as possible. This Royal response reflected positively through the persistent action undertaken by the ministerial committee in cooperation with sectors of the National Committee for Emergency Management (NCEM). As a result, the majority of services were restored at a rate of 100 per cent.
Tenders were awarded for the maintenance of damaged roads and for building as many as 328 alternative houses for afflicted citizens. In the process, His Majesty the Sultan also gave orders to establish a National Fund for Management of Emergencies to address the aftermath of the recent cyclone and natural disasters that might happen in the future.
Nations attain their prime only through education, and this has been a principle espoused by Omanis since the outset of their blessed Renaissance 50 years ago.
His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, Leader of Oman Renewed Renaissance, stressed that “attention to education figures high in the scale of national priorities”.
Accordingly, a motivating environment has been furnished for supporting the march of research and innovation. This translates into the allocation of a ministry mandated with higher education, research and innovation and the establishment of the University of Technology and Applied Sciences, with branches in governorates of the Sultanate of Oman.
The university’s articles of association were issued in June 2021. In the same month, the Council of Ministers approved the setting up of a branch for the university in the Governorate of Musandam. It comprises a number of specialisations reflecting the Royal attention towards the development of the governorate and the realization of sustainable, comprehensive development there. In the same context, the College of Duqm was established in September 2021 in the Governorate of Al Wusta at the Special Economic Zone in Duqm.
The university is governed by the laws regulating universities and colleges in the Sultanate of Oman and the hopes pinned on the National Research and Development Strategy 2040 in line with Oman Vision 2040. Royal directives to set up six schools to the tune of RO 8,850,000 will raise the number of scholarly institutions to 2,430 schools, 11 government and private universities and 18 private colleges.
Under its Renewed Renaissance, Oman continued to accord attention to environment protection, both at the local and global levels. To this effect, His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik issued a Royal Decree last August to establish Khor Kharfout Nature Reserve in the Governorate of Dhofar, taking the number of such sanctuaries to 21.
The Sultanate of Oman also ratified many international agreements related to the environment protection and legislations for the same purpose at the local level. The decline and fluctuation in oil prices and precautionary measures to address the repercussions of Covid-19 affected the economies of many countries of the world.
Since Oman is not isolated from the global community, it had to take measures to address the situation. These included the initiation of a medium-term Fiscal Balance Plan (2020-2023).
Last April, His Majesty the Sultan chaired a meeting of the main committee tasked with the National Programme for Fiscal Balance to follow up the progress of the programme in its second year. The programme was designed to bring down the general debt and to secure financial sustainability. His Majesty the Sultan endorsed the initiatives submitted by the departments concerned in a bid to develop the scheme of social protection. This affirms His Majesty the Sultan’s follow-up of the conditions of citizens to ensure the sustenance of decent livelihood for them and to alleviate the fallouts of this challenging stage.
The 10th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), the first leg in the executive plan of Oman Vision 2040, which is based on four axes comprising 14 ‘national priorities’, 88 ‘strategic goals’ and 68 performance indicators.
The Tenth Five-year Plan seeks to achieve a number of goals, among them “activating the economy, upgrading the efficiency of management of public finance, realizing balance among measures for rationalisation of public spending, espousing disciplined financial expansion policies, accelerating the rate of implementation of major strategic projects and government-private partnership projects, attracting more direct foreign investments, visualising growth trends based on expected oil price rate of $48 per barrel during years of the plan and enhancing governorates’ participation in achieving goals of Oman Vision 2040”. The plan targets average annual growth of 3.2 per cent in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) through emphasis on promising economic sectors like converting industries of high technological content, agriculture, fisheries, fish farming, food and agriculture industrialisation, transport,warehousing and logistics. Total estimated revenues of the State Budget 2021 stood at RO 8.64 billion calculated on the basis of oil price rate of $45.
The Governorates Development Programme, which emerged in implementation of Royal directives, will allocate RO 10 million to each governorate during the period of the Tenth Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) at arate of RO 2 million a year.
The programme envisages the execution of 28 strategic programmes and it will contribute to the goals of Oman Vision 2040. The Economic Stimulus Plan (ESP), endorsed by the Council of Ministers in March 2021 is based on five axes comprising incentives on taxes, fees and incentives for the improvement of the business and investment climate, incentives for small and medium enterprises, incentives for the labour market and recruitment, banking incentives aimed to rally efforts for the alleviation of Covid-19 impacts on the national economy and other incentives to promote economic recovery, back up economic activities and attract foreign investments. These financial procedures, topped by the medium-term Fiscal Balance Plan, showed positive results, as Oman posted growth in total revenues by 22.6 per cent and a 58 per cent decline in deficit by the end of September 2021.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) expected in a report issued in September 2021 that economic activities in the Sultanate of Oman will recover and that Oman will achieve 2.5 per cent GDP growth in 2021 and 4.2 per cent growth by 2023.
The IMF also commended the measures undertaken by Oman while addressing the fallouts of Covid-19, as well as the country’s fiscal discipline and enhancement of business environment and support for stricken economic sectors. The measures undertaken by Oman improved its credit rating in various agencies, including Moody’s, which amended the Sultanate of Oman’s rating from “negative” to “stable” in October 2021 (according it 3Ba rating).
Moody’s expected that public debt in Oman vis-à-vis the GDP will decline from 80 per cent in 2020 to 60 per cent in 2024, as well as the decline of the annual government funding needs to GDP from 22 per cent in 2020 to 10 per cent. Standard and Poor’s also amended its future outlook for Oman from “stable” to “positive”.
Meanwhile, Fitch pointed out last May that the Fiscal Plan contributed to the improvement of scenarios for Oman’s financial position and expected a 6.1 per cent decline of Budget deficit to GDP this year (2021). It also expected a 3.3 per cent economic growth for Oman by next year (2022).
The government of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik created an investment-stimulating environment through legislations, ports, free zones and logistics, coupled with a unique strategic location in the meeting point of global commercial markets, political stability and security.
The ports of Duqm, Salalah and Sohar boast a range of advanced facilities that enabled them to achieve quick finalisation of tasks and cut the distance between world ports. This is in addition to the free zones in Duqm, Al Mazyouna, Salalah and Sohar and upcoming Khazaen hub in the Governorate of South Al Batinah.
Investment incentives like tax exemptions extending to more than 30 years and foreigners’ 100 per cent ownership of properties, among other incentives, add another fillip to the Oman’s position. The political and regional changes that happened during the Renewed Renaissance period proved that the Sultanate of Oman’s foreign policy stands on firm grounds.
The Sultanate of Oman advocates principles of non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, positive contribution to safeguarding international security, promoting common public interest through dialogue and understanding among countries and nations. These principles were affirmed by the Sultanate of Oman before the 76th UN General Assembly in New York last September.
The Sultanate of Oman’s speech stated’’, Under the wise leadership of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, the Sultanate of Oman pursues its commitment to the basic fundamentals of its foreign policy embodied in good neighbourliness, non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, respect for international law and international charters and support for cooperation among countries. Oman considers the settlement of disputes by peaceful means and through harmony and tolerance as a civilised conduct that leads to better and more lasting results than disputes can achieve”.
The Sultanate of Oman’s persistent strive to serve global peace stem from its support for many initiatives and issues, like its backing to the positive developments emanating from Al Ula Summit in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Sultanate of Oman hailed the success of the efforts of reconciliation led by the State of Kuwait.
In international podiums, Sultanate of Oman continued to reiterate the legitimacy of the Palestinian cause and the demands of Palestinian people. It also supported resolving the Yemeni issue through comprehensive political settlement, working in line with initiatives of Saudi Arabia and the UN and US envoys. This is besides Sultanate of Oman’s stand for peaceful handling of the Iranian nuclear file and Oman’s continuous condemnation of all types of terrorism. — ONA
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