The Middle East

With more than 3000 km of coastline, a total land area of roughly 300,000 sq km and a pivotal location at the crossroads of East Africa, the Middle East and South Asia, Oman is positioned to capitalise on infrastructure growth both domestically within the broader region.

To enhance its economic diversification programme, Oman’s government has taken steps to prepare the workforce for new private sector-based industrial developments. Concern over the long-term future of oil reserves has sparked investment not only in industrial infrastructure – through industrial estates – but also into legal reforms, training...

It was in the early 1970s that Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said began modernising the telecommunications industry by establishing regulatory bodies and encouraging investment in infrastructure and services. Oman’s telecommunications has come far since then – today, the sultanate boasts high mobile penetration, expanding 4G long-term evolution (LTE...

As a result of being heavily dependent on oil resources, the sultanate of Oman has actively pursued development that focuses on diversification, industrialisation and privatisation, with the objective of reducing the oil sector’s contribution to GDP to 9% by 2020.

The retail market in Oman differs from that of the majority of its Gulf neighbours, with a less concentrated urban population and lower per-capita GDP. Furthermore, the majority of the country’s workforce is private-sector-based, which is not the case for other Gulf countries, where the bulk of nationals are employed directly by the government...

Major investments in schools and universities have highlighted Oman’s commitment to revamping its education system according to the needs of a diversified, knowledge-based economy. The government has spearheaded initiatives targeting higher education, vocational programmes and research facilities. As part of Oman’s eighth five-year plan (2011-15...