MUSCAT: HH Sayyid Bilarab bin Haitham al Said, Minister of State and Governor of Muscat, patronised the opening of the National Symposium on Enhancing Economic Development in the Governorates, titled 'Economically Empowered Governorates' on Thursday. The symposium addressed several key themes, most notably enhancing the readiness of governorates to generate investment opportunities, fostering a competitive business environment and maximising local economic returns.
The symposium, organised by the Ministry of Interior with the participation of various government units and institutions concerned with the economy and investment, explored the utilisation of digital economy tools to support economic development and strengthen the integration of the investment ecosystem between the public and private sectors.
Sayyid Khalifa bin Al Murdas al Busaidy, Secretary-General of Governorates Affairs at the Ministry of Interior, stated in the ministry’s address that the symposium aligns with the Royal directives of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik to entrench the principles of decentralisation and empower governorates to fulfil their developmental and economic roles, in line with the objectives of Oman Vision 2040 pertaining to balanced development and good governance.
He added that enhancing economic decentralisation represents a qualitative shift in the comprehensive development trajectory. This, he said, is achieved by re-engineering the roles between government institutions and governorates, thereby embedding the principles of institutional integration and strengthening the capacity to respond to rapid economic variables and challenges within a framework of effective governance and institutional agility.
HH Sayyid Marwan bin Turki al Said, Governor of Dhofar, affirmed in a statement that the symposium aims to highlight the comparative advantages across Oman’s various governorates and link them to national strategies. He noted that the symposium addressed the urban development strategy for each governorate, its unique advantages, and incorporated these into the structuring of major cities within those governorates.
In a related context, Sayyid Dr Hamad bin Ahmed al Busaidy, Governor of Al Buraimi, explained that enhancing economic development in the governorates is achieved through numerous enablers. These, he explained, include leveraging the comparative advantages between governorates based on their respective urban development strategies, alongside promoting each governorate’s investment opportunities. He also noted that Future Fund Oman is being invested in several sectors that serve the governorates.
Meanwhile, Dr Yahya bin Badr al Maawali, Governor of Al Sharqiyah South, stated that the importance of this symposium lies in economically empowering the governorates and providing an opportunity to highlight the importance of integration among various entities with economic relevance.
The symposium aimed to enhance economic development in the governorates, define a national integration framework, and raise the economic and development indicators within the governorates in alignment with Oman Vision 2040. It also sought to enable governorates to generate investment opportunities during economic crises based on their competitive advantages.
Furthermore, the symposium sought to improve the efficiency of planning for urban projects in the governorates to increase returns, accelerate procedures, enhance the local business environment, and strengthen partnerships with small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to support national integration, in addition to launching actionable practical initiatives.
The symposium featured several working papers, including one titled “National Urban Development Strategy and the Comparative Advantage of Governorates", another titled “Guideline for Framing and Developing Investment Opportunities", a paper on “The Role of Future Fund Oman in Supporting Governorate Investments", a paper entitled “From Digital Empowerment to Economic Prosperity", a paper on the “Mazaia Initiatives” by the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and a paper addressing the key objectives of the SME Authority’s targets under Oman Vision 2040.
The symposium also included a keynote paper titled “Economically Empowering Governorates in Crisis Management: From a Flow Economy to a Resilience Economy in an Era of Shocks", as well as a workshop on the “Regulatory Framework for Enhancing Integration Among Investment-Related Entities.”
The symposium served as a platform to promote economic development in the governorates and showcase opportunities for national integration, thereby contributing to raising economic and development indicators in line with the targets of Oman Vision 2040. Additionally, it aimed to enable governorates to leverage their competitive advantages, enhance the business environment and foster partnerships with SMEs. - ONA
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