Muscat,
HH Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham Al Said, Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth, today presided over the opening of “Governorates Economics Forum 2024” at Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre in Muscat.
Organized by the Ministry of Economy, the forum featured strategic visions on enhancing decentralization and domestic development and explored means of utilizing the competitive advantages of the Sultanate of Oman.
During the forum, HH Sayyid Theyazin launched the Governorates’ Competitiveness Index, a strategic measure for directing investments and determining development priorities. The index aims at promoting opportunities for the realization of the goals of Oman Vision 2040, designed to consolidate the national economy and maximize the economic and social impact of development projects.
HH Sayyid Theyazin toured an exhibition held on the sidelines of the forum. Titled “Development Experiences in the Governorates and Successful Models of Projects,” the exhibition showcased the approaches espoused by the Governorate Development Programme. It focused on means of utilizing competitive and comparative advantages among the governorates, as well as major strategic projects, the rates of progress in “projects under implementation” and key future projects planned in the governorates.
Two sections at the exhibition were dedicated to highlight the objectives of the “Governorates Competitiveness Index” and “Governorates Tourism Initiatives”.
Economy Minister Dr. Said Mohammed Al Saqri said that the “Governorates Competitiveness Index” offers a comprehensive vision of the progress of the development march in each governorate. “The index also defines opportunities and challenges and supports decision-makers in devising development policies and plans based on accurate and reliable data,” the minister added, noting that “it provides a set of standards and sub-indices covering various economic and social aspects, infrastructure, education, health and other vital sectors”.
The minister also announced the launch of the Governorates’ Tourism Initiative being undertaken in cooperation with the Ministry of Heritage and Tourism. “The initiative, aimed at enhancing the tourism sector in the governorates, allocates RO 15 million to fund the best projects that support this sector in Omani governorates,” he explained.
The minister pointed out that the initiative focuses on empowering the tourism sector to develop the economy of Omani governorates, notably by supporting projects that use the comparative advantages of each governorate. The initiative, he said, lays emphasis on realizing “tangible feasibility” from the programme on developing local communities and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), besides generating new employment opportunities for the local population.
The forum included three dialogue sessions that addressed “the reality and prospects of local development in the Sultanate of Oman and the enablers that consolidate the strategic approach to decentralization”.
Panel discussions elaborated on the current status of “governorates development”, in addition to action plans and strategic visions on expanding the spheres of local development—economically and socially—and overcoming challenges.
The forum brought together all strategic partners from the government and private sectors, as well as experts and civil society institutions. The overall objective was to enhance community participation in drawing up strategies, determining future prospects (that are in line with the priorities of the Governorate Development Programme) and expanding the scope of programmes and projects intended to be carried out during the 10th Five Year Plan.
