Oman

Located on the south-east coast of the Arabian Peninsula, Oman enjoys a strategic location as a shipping and trading centre for markets in Europe, Africa and Asia.

Although new public hospitals are under development, Oman’s private health care sector is also undergoing rapid expansion, bolstered by population growth, capacity constraints at existing public facilities and rising demand for specialty care. While health care is provided to all Omani citizens free of charge, a dearth of critical care options has prompted the government...

Nearly 40 years after the government launched a series of long-term health reforms, Oman’s health care sector has made major strides in terms of providing primary health care services and improving basic health indicators. As the sultanate nears the end of its eighth five-year health development plan (2011-15), the sector has witnessed substantial improvements in...

Since the 1970s, Oman has shown a strong commitment to developing the capacity of its citizens through a robust education system. The progress it has made in 44 years has been dramatic: enrolment in schools rose sharply from less than 1000 boys before 1970 to nearly 600,000 male and female students in 2012, and the country has invested heavily in opening new schools and...

Several advisory agencies have been set up in Oman with the task of creating avenues of exchange between academia and the commercial world. “Educational institutions are in continuous dialogue with industry,” Mona Fahad Al Said, assistant vice-chancellor for external cooperation at Sultan Qaboos University, told OBG. “A joint committee is working to address how the...

A focus on educating and training the population has been enshrined in Oman’s national development strategies. In 1995 the government ensured that education would remain central to the country’s growth path under Oman Vision 2020, the national development plan. This document placed an emphasis on upgrading education services to meet international standards, and included...