MUSCAT: Al Roya Economic Forum 2018 entitled ‘Oman Economy and Future Technology’ concluded at the Sheraton Oman Hotel on Sunday.
The forum came up with a range of recommendations that included a promising investment vision based on a solid base of ideas and projects.
The vision will provide a significant progress forward in the national economy, which will serve as the infrastructure of the technological revolution, with a comprehensive vision for the Sultanate over the next two decades.
The forum called for keeping abreast of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and its associating developments, encourage the expansion of the use of Internet of Things technologies and cloud computing to serve the economic growth and prepare the labour market to receive new technologies and thus strengthening the training and rehabilitation plans for Omani technology-based cadres as fuel for production and modernisation, as well as building a research database to help establish a specialised knowledge entity that will be a reference for researchers and capitalists.
The forum also called on the private sector to support and motivate young cadres to innovate and build an Omani economic model based on knowledge, patents under the name of ‘Oman’ and the establishment of a technological city of Oman to embrace young ideas and emerging technological projects, as well as large factories from around the world that shift the Sultanate into a leading regional manufacturing hub offering real value added to our promising economy, providing jobs for young people and attracting national and foreign investments.
The forum underlined the integration of programmes and the concerted efforts among individuals, institutions and bodies to follow up the implemented technological projects and support them to overcome the challenges facing them and to strengthen the role of the public and private sectors in supporting research centres and projects with financing and advanced devices and developing legislation to be more incentive to invest in transforming ideas into a reality that serves the society.
It also recommended drafting legislation to keep abreast of rapid technological changes and the introduction of a thought visa to allow innovators and ideas to live in the Sultanate and increase facilities for investors with technological ideas to attract them to inject capital in the Sultanate.
The forum also recommended benefiting from international experiences in developing education programmes in schools and universities to create an environment conducive to innovators in various fields of science and accelerating the application of the techniques of Blockchain in various sectors.
It also recommended the use of quantitative physics technology in order to cope with the changes of the Fourth Industrial Revolution and improve banking operations to meet the growing needs of customers according to modern technologies, in addition to innovating new tools to ensure the quick completion of tasks, the enhancement of banking security and the promotion of community awareness of the importance of technology, the need for technological transformation and the introduction of banking products that help to promote technical projects and innovation projects in general.
Themed ‘Oman Economy and Future Technology,’ the opening ceremony was held under the patronage of Shaikh Abdullah bin Nasser al Bakri, Minister of Manpower, who said: “The rapid pace of technological innovation has accelerated the overall economic development movement. The age of technology presents many options for re-harnessing innovations and inventions to serve the overall development movement.”
In a statement, Al Bakri affirmed that the construction sector should benefit from modern technologies that significantly reduce dependence on manpower and to ensure that this sector is more attractive to the national workforce under the use of modern technologies and mechanisation.
Hatim bin Hamad al Taee, Editor-in-Chief, Al Roya newspaper, said in a statement that the Organising Committee chose one of the themes of the forum on ‘Investing in the Future’ to highlight it, out of the interest of looking forward to a promising investment vision based on a solid base of ideas and projects that would create a significant progress in the Omani economy.
Abdul Salam bin Mohammed al Mershadi, CEO of the State General Reserve Fund (SGRF), the key speaker of the forum, delivered a speech entitled ‘Experience of SGRF in attracting and naturalising technology and make use of it to support the economy in the Sultanate.’ — ONA
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