Oman gives business a seat at the table

For as long as most of us have been in business, the pattern was familiar. A new fee, a new licence condition or a new quota would appear, and we would learn about it the same day as everyone else. We adjusted, we complied, and we moved on. That pattern is now changing, and I believe the change deserves more attention than it has received. In June, His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik directed the creation of an Economic Coordination Council, chaired by HH Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs. For the first time, business holds most of the seats at the table where economic policy is shaped.

The design is simple. The council has twelve members: five from government, five from the private sector and two representing small and medium enterprises, with business members serving fixed three-year terms. Its job is to align government policy with what the private sector needs, to look ahead at global economic trends, and to expand the private sector’s role in growth.

A council of the same name existed in 1999, but every one of its ten members was a government official. The difference tells you how far Oman’s thinking has travelled. Oman Vision 2040 and the Eleventh Five-Year Development Plan (2026–2030) set targets that depend heavily on business to deliver: a private-sector contribution of 56 per cent of GDP at current prices, private investment equivalent to 21 per cent of GDP, and 50,000 private-sector job opportunities a year. You cannot ask business to carry that load and keep it outside the room.

Why does this matter so much? Because investment follows predictability. The 2026 IMD World Competitiveness Ranking placed Oman 25th of 70 economies and 15th in the world for government efficiency, while the IMD’s CEO survey found that government policy stability was the leading factor attracting investment to Oman, cited by 50.7 per cent of respondents.

That reputation is Oman’s real asset. The council protects it by changing when business is consulted. Picture a proposed fee or a new Omanisation requirement under the old pattern, firms might discover the change only after it took effect and have to absorb the cost. Ideally, the proposal would reach the council before implementation, allowing businesses to explain the implications for payroll and prices and giving policymakers an opportunity to refine or phase in the measure. Ministries have already tested this approach; the tourism law’s executive regulation was put to public consultation before issue. The council could help make such early consultation the norm. Fewer surprises mean lower risk, and lower risk means more capital committed for longer.

For foreign investors, the benefit is a clear channel and a clearer signal. Oman’s stock of foreign direct investment reached RO 31.4 billion at the end of 2025, but 81 per cent of it sits in oil and gas. The next wave must come in manufacturing, logistics, tourism, food and finance, where investors live with everyday rules on land, labor, customs and licensing. Imagine a German manufacturer weighing Suhar against a rival Gulf site, or an Indian food processor looking at Al Duqm: each now has an institution whose purpose is to make those rules workable. The same logic is being applied to finance. The new International Financial Centre of Oman, also chaired by Sayyid Theyazin, opens company registration this year and full licensing in 2027 under a common-law framework. Financial and insurance services were already the fastest-growing non-oil sector in the first half of 2026, up 9.5 per cent. A centre built with the same consultative habit will attract banks, asset managers and fintechs that want stability as much as incentives.

For Omani investors and entrepreneurs, the gains are closer to home. At the end of June 2026, the private sector employed 441,737 Omanis, up 8.6 per cent year on year, compared with 392,962 in government employment. Oman has roughly 267,500 small and medium enterprises contributing about 21.8 per cent of GDP. Two SME seats on the council mean their everyday concerns, from prompt payment of government dues to realistic Omanisation timelines for new firms, now reach decision-makers directly. When rules are stable, banks lend more readily, projects reach break-even sooner, and returns improve for everyone who has put capital at risk. Jobs follow, because firms hire when they can see two years ahead.

How can people make the most of it? My advice to business owners is to organise and prepare. Work through the OCCI and your sector committees so that the five private-sector members speak with the weight of hundreds of firms behind them. Bring numbers rather than grievances: a quantified cost of a proposed measure, with a workable alternative, is far harder to set aside than a complaint.

Take part in every consultation window a ministry opens. For investors at home and abroad, three signs will show the system working: more draft rules published for comment before they take effect, non-oil growth moving back towards the Plan’s 4 per cent annual target from around 1.5 per cent in the first half of 2026, and the financial centre welcoming its first registrations on schedule. For young Omanis, the sectors the Plan is backing, from manufacturing to tourism to digital services, are where the new private-sector jobs will appear.

In my view, this is the most practical pro-business step Oman has taken since Oman Vision 2040 was launched, and it is timely. It does not promise miracles; it changes who is in the room, and that is how good economies are built, decision by decision. His Majesty has opened the door. The Omani private sector, and those abroad who want to grow with it, should walk through it prepared.