Despite ongoing economic pressures associated with the drop in oil prices, Oman’s diversification strategy and efforts to enhance wider revenue streams are beginning to bear fruit, as witnessed by continued growth in the non-oil sector despite dropping incomes and wider regional instability.
Oman offers a diverse as well as highly competitive telecoms sector, with two full-network operators and three virtual network operators catering to a market of 4m people. Despite this, however, the sector has continued to expand on the back of rising subscriptions and increasing mobile penetration rates. Growing market maturity has led to operators looking to boost take-up of mobile internet...
Oman’s long history of political stability coupled with its favorable international trade agreements and special economic zones has ensured strong growth in economic output and exports in recent years. The fall in global prices is undoubtedly a concern for the sultanate, but the sustained focus on diversification schemes, as well as the country’s ongoing spending commitments on big-ticket projects should ensure steady growth moving forward.
Major investment in the telecoms and IT sector from both the public and private sectors has expanded coverage in Oman, with the number of pre-paid mobile subscribers reaching 5.37m in the first half of 2014. The government has recognised the potential of a vibrant IT sector and in line with its objective to diversify the economy away from hydrocarbons has marked the development of the sector...
Although the sultanate’s petroleum wealth has traditionally provided a backbone for growth, efforts are well under way to diversify away from hydrocarbons. Oman Vision 2020 has laid out plans to boost industrialisation within the sultanate and to encourage the private sector to take a more active role in the economy and in the provision of jobs, both of which are billed as key drivers for growth.
The sultanate’s economy continues to enjoy the benefits of petroleum wealth, which has provided budget surpluses in most years and served as a backbone for growth. However, planning is well under way for an era in which oil will not be the main economic driver, with the twin goals of diversification and creating an increased number of private sector jobs at the top of the government’s current agenda.
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