Monday 09 / June / 2025
Muscat: Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy, H.E Dr Nasser bin Rashid Al-Maawali issued a press statement on the 50th Glorious National Day.
In the statement, he said, "When celebrating the 50th Glorious National Day, the Sultanate is celebrating half a century of its Blessed Renaissance. This Renaissance was initiated by His Majesty late Sultan Qaboos bin Said – may Allah rest his soul in Paradise and is now continuing under the wise leadership of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tariq. The results of this Renaissance have directly reflected on the economic and social development processes."
"The principles of the Blessed Renaissance relied on the Sultanate’s real wealth, the Omani man, who is the core and target of the development process. To turn this principle into reality, investments have continued to be made in the Omani people since the early seventies to develop the education and training systems. Policies and programs aimed at providing Omanis with knowledge, skills and experience have also been initiated. The Sultanate has paid great attention to the health and intellectual dimension of the Omani people."
"The Omani economy has gone through several developmental stages. It has developed from a subsistence-based economy to an economy of abundance and growth. Today, we stand at the threshold of a new phase in the economy – that of sustainability. We are making remarkable progress in meeting the requirements of a modern state, taking advantage of the achievements made, such as high-quality infrastructure, airports, roads and ports. The Sultanate has also succeeded in establishing many manufacturing and petrochemical industries, industrial zones, free zones, and other infrastructure projects."
Over the past years, the Sultanate has invested the financial surpluses resulting from oil revenues in further creating an infrastructure that encourages investment, such as airports, ports, free economic zones and the highway network. The infrastructure systems in the health, housing, environment, tourism and other sectors have also been strengthened. This has reflected positively on the lives of citizens as well as expatriates.
Official data shows that the contribution of the manufacturing sector to the GDP in 2019 stood at RO 3.718 billion, about 15% of the GDP from non-oil activities.
The World Economic Forum’s Global Competitive Index for 2019 ranked the Sultanate 28th among 149 countries on the infrastructure index. The Sultanate ranked tenth on the road quality index, 15th on the road connectivity index, 22nd in the efficiency of port services, and 34th in the skills of the workforce. The Global Competitiveness Index 2019 also ranked Oman 53rd in the world and sixth in the Arab world, thanks to the achievements made by the national economy over the past years.
The Sultanate has made progressive leaps in a number of international competitiveness indicators and has topped the list in several others. For example, Oman was placed first globally in terms of being free from terrorism, tenth on the quality of road infrastructure index, and 22nd for the efficiency of port service, and many other indicators.
In terms of production structures, before the Blessed Renaissance, the economy was largely dependent on agriculture, fishing and limited trade in some agricultural and fisheries products. The Blessed Renaissance began by setting up plans and strategies, the first of which was the establishment of the Development Council in 1974, which was chaired by His Majesty the late Sultan Qaboos bin Said, may Allah rest his soul in peace. These steps enabled the economy to move to the stage of producing capital and increasing wealth, and at the same time achieving rapid growth in GDP.
The historical developments in the performance of the national economy during the period (1980-1997) indicate that the Sultanate has recorded one of the highest growth rates in the Middle East and in the world. The average annual real growth recorded was about 7.2%. The non-oil sector achieved a growth rate of 7.3% during the period from 1980-1997. This distinguished economic performance was the result of the expansion of fiscal policy. The average state budget deficit amounted to about 7.8% of the GDP during the same period. The cost of the fiscal deficit borne by the national economy in that period is commendable given its results and its implications on the growth rates achieved at that time.
During the past two decades (1998-2019), the national economy was able to record a growth of 3.2% during the said period despite the frequent external shocks in the global energy markets and the global financial crisis. This growth came despite the slowdown in the growth of oil activities, which recorded a modest annual average growth of 1.0%. Non-oil activities also recorded 6.8% per annum growth rate during the same period - evidence of the stability of the growth of non-oil activities during the past two decades, driven by the government's continuous increase in spending to finance its plans for development and infrastructure projects.
Observers of the Omani economy will notice the reflection of economic activity on the high standard of living of the individual and the diversity of the State's economic structures as well as on the achievements made in all walks of life. These achievements are a result of a careful outlook for the future as the Sultanate was a pioneer in setting five-year development plans aimed to diversify sources of revenue by investing in income-generating projects, reducing the economy's dependence on oil, and encouraging the private sector to play a bigger role in the development process.
Official data indicates that the size of the economy has grown about 254 times from 1970 until this day, from RO 115.4 million in 1970 to RO 29,349.5 million in 2019. In the same period, the average per capita income grew 42 times, rising from RO 153.9 in 1970 to RO 6,355.6 in 2019.
Despite the challenges that interfered with the path of the Omani economy during certain periods, the Sultanate was able to attract foreign investments and initiate economic and development projects, thanks to its ability to create an investor-friendly environment. Several laws that encourage local and foreign investment have been introduced. The most important of these laws is the Foreign Capital Investment Law, which aims to enhance the Sultanate's ability to attract foreign capital. The procedures for foreign investments in Oman were also simplified, and its competitiveness indices improved. The Sultanate’s economy also maintained macroeconomic stability, and the Oman Vision 2020 enabled the country to initiate many developmental projects related to infrastructure, ports, industrial zones and free zones, that had a direct effect on the economic situation. All these efforts have paid off and the Sultanate has achieved advanced ratings on human development indicators.
In the Human Development Report 2010, the United Nations ranked the Sultanate at the forefront of the world in the speed of the human development rate over the past four decades. The Sultanate was ranked first among 135 countries in the rate of improvement it achieved compared to 1970. The report stated that the source of this progress was not only due to oil and gas revenues, as it might be assumed, but also due to the great achievements made by the Sultanate in health and education sectors.
Today, we are starting the new vision, "Oman Vision 2040", which was supervised by His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tariq. Through this vision, the Sultanate seeks to delve into the future with strong confidence guided by strategic data and ambitious goals to create a "diversified and sustainable knowledge and innovation-based economy that keeps pace with modern development and achieves financial sustainability".
Such aims will be achieved by focusing on the main sectors that drive economic diversification, stimulate innovation and entrepreneurship, and develop fiscal, monetary and economic policy frameworks capable of achieving a balance between state revenues and its expenditures. This will also be achieved by reviewing the regulatory and legislative environment and strengthening the governance and transparency frameworks governing policies and economic activity.
Oman Vision 2040 is set to achieve sustainable economic and social development that stems from adopting strengths in society, such as adhering to values, building on the achievements made and seizing the available opportunities. We should bear in mind that achieving comprehensive development depends mainly on the Omani people who are armed with knowledge, skill and training. When we have such kind of citizens, we can overcome challenges and obstacles with vigor and determination. Through sincere hard work, we can achieve comprehensive development in the various regions of the Sultanate, in partnership with the private sector, to ensure the distribution of developmental gains and create job opportunities for citizens in all governorates.
Through Oman Vision 2040, the Sultanate seeks to reach a sustainable economy that achieves a number of goals, the most important of which is achieving sustainable economic growth at a rate of 4% -5% annually, increasing the average per capita income by up to 90.0%, and decreasing the contribution of oil sectors at constant prices from 41.4% of GDP in 2019 to about 7% by the end of the Vision in 2040. The Vision also seeks to create decent job opportunities for all by increasing the share of the Omani workforce in the private sector in addition to ensuring the rational and sustainable use of natural resources and wealth.
With its eyes on a better future, the Sultanate is determined to have an economy that keeps pace with changes, is more capable to deal with changes and is more flexible to manage crises. The current reviews of economic policies and their future paths seek to ensure having the financial conditions that support Oman's Vision 2040.
The Fiscal Balance Plan (Tawazun), which has received Royal Blessing, seeks to achieve financial sustainability and preserve the achievements made during the past 50 years by reducing the size of public debt and fiscal deficits and increasing the contribution of non-oil sectors to government revenues. Financial sustainability is one of the key enablers of Oman Vision 2040, as the Fiscal Balance Plan contributes to absorbing the financial impacts due to low oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The economic repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic placed the Sultanate in front of a challenge that required taking many precautionary economic and health measures. The government has taken many sustained precautionary measures to confront the Covid 19 pandemic and address emerging economic challenges.
Despite the difference in the causes and dimensions of the current economic crisis and previous economic crises, and based on various indicators, we strongly believe in the government's ability to overcome the economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. In fact, the Sultanate has the required experiences and capabilities that helped the government overcome similar crises in the past, such as the collapse of oil prices in mid-1986 - when the price of oil reached less than $10 a barrel, and the price crisis in 1997, which occurred in parallel with the Asian economic crisis. The Sultanate also survived the mortgage crisis in September 2008 and other financial and economic crises as well.
Overall, the Sultanate’s economy today stands on the threshold of a new phase that can manage various economic changes smoothly and anticipates the future. We believe that the Sultanate can continue its march of economic development at an accelerated pace under the leadership of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tariq.
Finally, while the Sultanate marks the 50th anniversary of the Glorious National Day, all Omanis stand with a solid will and strong determination, armed with unwavering faith and unrelenting determination to continue building and developing their beloved country and adding to the achievements to create a better future for the coming generations.
May Allah safeguard our dear Oman and its beloved leader."
