Construction

With a multi-billion-dollar pipeline of public sector contracts and significant private sector developments planned for the remainder of the decade, the construction sector remains a highly significant and growing sector of the Omani economy. In the face of substantial headwinds driven by lower oil prices since the middle of 2014, the government is steering towards a diversified economy, even as it trims expenditures in the short term and delays some schemes created in the years when GCC states were enjoying windfalls from higher hydrocarbons revenues. Private sector home-builders, shopping mall developers and building materials suppliers see room for optimism in a country that experienced one of the fastest average population growth rates of any nation between 2011 and 2015, at 8.5% per year. This chapter contains an interview with Simon Buttery, CEO, Carillion MENA