Wednesday 26 / February / 2025
Muscat: HH Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said, Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth, on Wednesday graced the opening of the 2nd edition of “Together We Progress” forum. The two-day event is organised by the Secretariat General of the Council of Ministers.
The forum aims to enhance interaction and communication between the government and society, review policies, development programmes and government initiatives, provide an opportunity for citizens to express their opinions and suggestions, and share their concerns and challenges with officials in a participatory environment.
The forum includes two panels discussion on topics pertaining to economy and development. They address features of the upcoming five-year plan, economic diversification efforts, investment and its role in developing the national economy.
The forum also includes five dialogue sessions that address the topics of governorate development and their role in developing the national economy, the future of professions and jobs, the retirement system, culture, sports and youth, and the future of economic diversification sectors.
HH Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said, Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth, the event’s chief guest, launched three national platforms within the forum, aiming to improve the quality of government services and facilitate access to them.
The first platform is the National Platform for Suggestions, Complaints and Reports codenamed “Tajawub”, which is an electronic platform dedicated to receiving complaints and suggestions in government institutions to improve government services and enhance beneficiary satisfaction.
The second platform is the National System for Planning, Evaluation and Performance Monitoring, which is a national digital system that includes various government institutions through which planning, evaluation and performance monitoring of strategic targets, programmes and annual plans are carried out in line with Oman Vision 2040.
The third platform is the National Unified Portal for Electronic Services, which is a unified central digital portal to provide all digital government services in the Sultanate of Oman without the need to go to the headquarters of government units to complete the transactions, whether for individuals or the business sector.
In his speech, Sheikh Al Fadhl bin Mohammed Al Harthy, Secretary General of the Council of Ministers, stressed that the “Together We Progress” forum aims to enhance community partnership through direct dialogue between the government and the community, in line with the lofty approach of His Majesty the Sultan, which is represented in the importance of listening to the opinions and aspirations of the community in various fields and consolidating the principle of community participation in comprehensive national development.
He pointed out that the period of selecting the themes of this version of the forum witnessed widespread interaction from members of society, with more than 19,000 participating citizens. He explained that the theme of economy and development received the highest percentage of votes. To enhance the principle of community participation, citizens were given the opportunity to choose and suggest another theme other than the themes presented, and the topic of the retirement system topped the requested topics, he added.
Al Harthy said that more than 7,500 citizens registered through the electronic platform to attend the forum’s sessions. The sorting methodology was based on governorates, age groups, work status, and academic qualifications.
The forum’s activities are accompanied by the “Idea Makers” initiative, which aims to engage citizens and encourage innovation and creative thinking to find innovative solutions in the areas of national identity, belonging, and communication between the government and society.
The first session of the forum discussed the features of the upcoming five-year plan, economic diversification efforts, the future of the energy sector, the digital economy, artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, and the national strategy for urban development. The session saw the participation of Dr. Khalfan bin Said Al Shu’aili, Minister of Housing and Urban Planning, Eng. Said bin Hamoud Al Maawali, Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, Dr. Said bin Mohammed Al Saqri, Minister of Economy, and Eng. Salim bin Nasser Al Aufi, Minister of Energy and Minerals.
The Minister of Economy stressed that the performance of the Omani economy has recorded remarkable growth and expansion led by non-oil activities. The next phase will witness further growth in economic sectors, especially those based on the circular economy, green economy, alternative energy and advanced industry such as semiconductors, based on the outputs of national programs and various specialized laboratories, he added.
He explained that the financial balance plan restored confidence in the investment climate in the Sultanate of Oman, and contributed to increasing foreign direct investments (FDI) by the end of 2024 to OMR26 billion.
For his part, the Minister of Energy and Minerals said that the Ministry maintains production capacity in the oil and gas sectors regardless of prices. He pointed out the operating cost will not exceed 9 to 10 US dollars per barrel, and the production cost ranges between 23 to 25 US dollars.
He explained that 32 percent of the electricity currently used in the Sultanate of Oman comes from renewable energy, noting that a green hydrogen station was opened in Muscat Governorate as the first green economy station in the Sultanate of Oman and the Middle East.
For his part, the Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology said, “The digital economy currently contributes 2 percent to the Sultanate of Oman’s GDP, and is expected to reach 10 percent by 2040”.
He pointed out that many AI initiatives will be launched this year (2025), including the Artificial Intelligence Studio and the Omani Language Model, in addition to launching a set of experimental missiles from the launch pad in Duqm, Al Wusta Governorate.
The Minister of Housing and Urban Planning expected that Sultan Haitham City would receive 500 Omani families during the period from the end of 2026 to 2027. He added that there is a project for a future city in Dhofar Governorate similar to Sultan Haitham City on an area of 7 million square meters.
He pointed out that an agricultural city project has been established in the Najd region in the Wilayat of Thumrait in the Governorate of Dhofar in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources to attract global and technical investments in the field of agriculture.
The second session of the forum reviewed the role of investment in developing the national economy, local content policies and entrepreneurship. The second session saw the participation of Abdulsalam bin Mohammed Al Murshidi, Chairman of Oman Investment Authority (OIA), Qais bin Mohammed Al Yousef, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, Halima Rashid Al Zar’ei, Chairperson of the Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (ASMED), Eng. Badr bin Salim Al Maamari, Secretary General of the Tender Board and Faisal bin Abdullah Al Rowas, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI).
The Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion affirmed that the index of the volume of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Sultanate of Oman posted a growth of 16.2 percent last year (2024) compared to the same period in 2023.
During the session, the minister revealed that “Oman Exports” initiative which was launched by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, aims to provide a set of services of interest to Omani exporters. The initiative is designed to link Omani companies with global markets and enhance the non-oil exports sector in the Sultanate of Oman.
For his part, the Chairman of Oman Investment Authority explained that the size of the Generations’ portfolio for foreign investments stands at OMR7 billion. He added that OIA has supported the state’s general budget since 2016 with OMR6.8 billion in profits.
He pointed out that there is an increasing demand from investors for the Sultanate of Oman, noting that the OIA provided more than 800 job opportunities during the past year (2024), thus achieving an Omanisation rate of more than 77 percent in its subsidiaries and about 94 percent in the OIA.
For her part, the Chairperson of the Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development (ASMED) said that the contribution of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to the gross domestic product is close to OMR9 billion. She added that the number of enterprises that have obtained the Entrepreneurship Card has exceeded 60,000 enterprises out of a total of 260,000 SMEs in the Sultanate of Oman.
For his part, the Secretary General of the Tender Board, pointed out that the local content certificate was approved with the aim of obtaining more opportunities and preference in the tenders and contracts awarded by the Board.
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry stressed that the OCCI is keen on the participation of Omani businessmen and women in various regional and international economic events. He added that OCCI welcomes business delegations and directs specialized delegations to attract new investments and diverse partnerships. These efforts have yielded positive results through the signing of many agreements.
HH Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said toured the accompanying exhibition for the public. It highlights the efforts made and future plans to develop the economy, the role of entrepreneurship and its importance in the economic system. The exhibition includes a corner for the social protection system, a corner for the Ministry of Information represented by the Government Communication Centre, an exhibition for economy and development, a corner for the Secretariat General of the Council of Ministers, and a corner for idea makers.
The forum’s activities are accompanied by the “Idea Makers” initiative”. This initiative comes in this edition of the forum in cooperation with the Oman Investment Authority. It highlights three topics namely the governorate development, challenges of government firm and academic research specialising in localizing modern technologies locally. On Thursday, the winners of the first three places in each topic will be announced.
