WASHINGTON: The Washington Institute for Near East Policy said that the Sultanate of Oman under the wise leadership of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik has succeeded in facing the economic challenges during the corona pandemic and the crisis of low global oil prices.
In a report published on its website and prepared by British writer Jonathan Campbell James, the institute said: "His Majesty the Sultan has taken steps and decisions aimed at strengthening the efforts to diversify the Omani economy, including legislations and laws on foreign capital investment and partnership between the public and private sectors. It aims to attract foreign direct investment to the Sultanate of Oman, and the laws which have been enacted to improve the administrative and financial control in the country, and to promote a favourable business environment. These measures fall within the main objectives of the Tenth Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) and Oman Vision 2040."
The report touched on the increase in FDI, which stood at 19 per cent in the first quarter of 2022, and an increase in non-oil exports in 2021, in addition to organising a number of conferences, including investment conference 'Oman for Renewable Energy' in London in July. It witnessed a strong presence of multinational companies which have implemented various projects in Oman and are seeking to invest again.
He said that His Majesty the Sultan has restructured the Council of Ministers, in addition to rationalising state-owned companies and sovereign wealth investment funds in five sectors within the Oman Investment Authority, in an effort to improve implementation processes and avoid duplication of efforts.
The report stressed that today Oman is able to achieve its economic growth goals through the 'Medium-Term Financial Balance Plan 2022/2024', which provided revenues of $780 million in 2021, and is expected to reach $1.3 billion in 2022, and the process is still ongoing. To restore balance to the budget, supported by a rise in oil prices, referring to the statistics of Fitch International Credit Rating Agency, which confirmed that the public debt ratio has decreased from 67.3 per cent to 47.5 per cent.
The report pointed out that the Government of the Sultanate of Oman is continuing to benefit from the energy sector, as it is making great efforts to develop new sources, including the agreement to develop a green hydrogen-based ammonia production facility in Salalah, implement green hydrogen projects in Duqm and develop solar energy for production purposes in many oil and gas fields.
The report also noted the foreign policy of the Sultanate of Oman and its prominent role under the leadership of His Majesty the Sultan in bringing peace to a number of issues in the region, including the Yemeni issue and the Iranian nuclear file. - ONA
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