Monday 09 / February / 2026
Muscat: HH Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, emphasised the importance of the opinions, ideas, and proposals presented at the fourth edition of “Together Forward” forum. He expressed his thanks and appreciation to the participants in the forum's activities, which was organised by the Secretariat General of the Council of Ministers.
In a special dialogue session of “Together Forward” forum, HH Sayyid Theyazin stated: "We meet in an open space of transparency and responsibility, stemming from a belief in the importance of dialogue as a firm national approach to listen, converse, and share visions and ideas."
He added: "In previous editions of the forum, we have consistently held dialogue sessions to listen to various proposals presented by participants. With our assignment in the recent ministerial restructure to oversee the economic portfolio, we affirm that this event will continue as an open platform for exchanging views, visions, and ideas on issues that concern you."
He furthered: "Your insights are important, and your experiences and aspirations constitute real inputs for the continuous development of policies and procedures. With you and through you, we progress."
HH Sayyid Theyazin pointed out that among the key tasks of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs is the general supervision of public policies and strategies for economic development in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy, other ministries, and relevant bodies, and ensuring policy alignment and unified efforts among all related parties to achieve national goals.
He noted that the economic work system is based on the principle of institutional integration, where policies are formulated based on precise scientific analyses and implemented within a government framework characterised by harmony and effectiveness.
A number of Ministers participated in the special dialogue session to respond to questions, inquiries, and aspirations that constitute real inputs for the continuous development of policies and procedures.
The activities of the fourth edition of “Together Forward” forum continued for the second day with several dialogue sessions that focused on improving government services to enhance productivity and competitiveness, self-employment and entrepreneurship to build a productive national economy and a sustainable labour market, and the role of the Five-Year Plan and priority sectors in building a diverse and sustainable economy.
During the first session of the forum, Eng. Said Hamoud Al Maawali, Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, affirmed that there is continuous improvement in government performance in digital transformation, which has increased by 400% since the beginning of 2022 until 2025.
Dr. Mansour Talib Al Hinai, Chairman of the Authority for Public Services Regulation indicated that the volume of investments in the sectors supervised by the Authority ranges between OMR6 billion to OMR7 billion.
For his part, Dr. Ali Amer Al Shithani, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology for Communications and Information Technology, stated that the number of projects included in digital transformation plans is about 1,600 distributed across 57 government institutions, varying between internal regulation, electronic platforms, service improvement, and process re-engineering, with about 75% of them completed.
He noted that the satisfaction rate with electronic government services reaches 78%, and there are 4,100 electronic government services provided to all segments of society.
He pointed out that there are 32 projects in the National Program for Artificial Intelligence and Advanced Technologies in the Sultanate of Oman to improve and accelerate productivity in economic sectors.
Meanwhile, Ibtisam Ahmed Al Farooji, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion for Investment Promotion, pointed out that there are 200 Omani companies exporting their products to foreign markets with a value of OMR500 million during the period from 2024 to 2025.
On his turn, Hilal Abdullah Al Hinai, General Supervisor of the National Platform for Proposals, Complaints, and Reports "Tajawob" and Director General of Government Services Quality Development Center at the Secretariat General of the Council of Ministers, said that a voice recording feature has been launched on the platform to enable broader segments of society to access it and facilitate the process of submitting requests through clear and quick steps to improve the quality of interaction by receiving real-life experiences.
During the second session, Dr. Mahad Said Ba'awain, Minister of Labour indicated that a total of OMR100 million in fines were waived in 2025 as part of regularising the status of the workforce in the Sultanate of Oman.
For her part, Halima Rashid Al Zari'ee, Chairperson of the Public Authority for Small and Medium Enterprises Development “Riyada” stated that as many as 11,000 Omani small and medium enterprises participated in external exhibitions last year.
She added that the number of micro-enterprises increased during the period from 2022 to 2025 by approximately 45,000 enterprises that entered the market, and the number of home-based business owners reached 14,000 people, including 7,000 from craft businesses.
Meanwhile, Khalid Salim Al Ghamarai, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Labour pointed out that 2,500 people with disabilities were employed in the private sector by the end of 2025, and there are 2,000 from this category in the government sector. 100 job opportunities for them will be offered in the same sector during the coming period, he added.
It is worth to mention that “Together Forward” forum is accorded a Royal attention of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik. It aims to be a joint communication channel between the government and society, through which transparency, credibility, and partnership between the decision-maker and the citizen are achieved, in addition to enhancing mutual trust and providing the opportunity for all segments of society to express their opinions, proposals, and share their concerns.
