اخبار سلطنة عُمان – وطن نيوز
اخر اخبار سلطنة عُمان اليوم – اخبار سلطنة عُمان العاجلة
W6nnews.com ==== وطن === تاريخ النشر – 2026-02-09 21:59:00
Coverage – Abdulaziz Al-Abri – and Abdulhamid Al-Qasimi M. Saeed Al-Maawali: The use of digital services has increased by 400% since 2022 – Dr. Mansour Al Hinai: For the first time, we will have stations to produce electricity from hydrogen – Dr. Mahad Baaween: A localization platform that regulates operation through 18 sectoral governance committees – Ibtisam Al-Farugi: The growth of non-oil exports exceeded half a billion riyals within five years – His Highness Sayyid Yazan bin Haitham Al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, confirmed that the open dialogue session comes within the framework of an approach based on transparency and responsibility, and embodies the belief in dialogue as a solid national path for exchanging visions and ideas and listening to various proposals in a way that contributes to supporting the development process. His Highness said: The “Together We Progress” Forum, during its previous editions, has always provided direct spaces for discussion between society and officials, indicating that with the assignment of supervision of the economic file in the recent ministerial amendments, this session will continue as an open platform to raise issues that concern everyone, in a way that enhances partnership in economic decision-making. His Highness added that one of the most important main tasks of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs is to supervise general policies and strategies for economic development in cooperation with the Ministry of Economy and the competent authorities in a way that ensures policy alignment and integration, and unified efforts to achieve the goals. National. His Highness pointed out that the economic work system is based on the principle of institutional integration. Policies are formulated on scientific foundations and accurate analyses, and implemented within a governmental framework characterized by harmony and effectiveness, which reflects positively on the quality of performance and speed of achievement. His Highness explained that, to enhance direct interaction, a number of heads of government units participate in the session to listen to and respond to interventions, stressing that visions, experiences and aspirations represent important inputs for the development of policies and procedures on an ongoing basis. His Highness reiterated that progress is achieved in partnership with society, calling for starting to ask questions and interventions. This came during the launch of the open dialogue session within the work of the “Together We Progress” Forum. The interventions during the open dialogue session varied between economic and social issues. Demands were put forward related to supporting small and medium enterprises and empowering local projects, especially in the governorates, with a call for strengthening the complementary roles between funding agencies and supervisory bodies to ensure the sustainability of these initiatives. In the axis of social protection, proposals to reduce the years of service for women’s retirement were discussed, and the financial consequences of this were clarified, which may amount to about 60,000 Omani riyals per case upon early retirement by five years. The discussion also addressed the mechanism for entitlement to the “elderly people’s benefit,” noting that the number of beneficiaries exceeds 270,000, and that setting the income ceiling at 1,250 riyals aims to redirect support to the neediest groups in parallel with raising the children’s benefit from 10 to 20 riyals. The session reviewed developments in the labor market, noting the entry of more than 210,000 job seekers into the labor market over the past years, and raising future targets to 60,000 job opportunities annually. Issues of people with disabilities were also included in the discussions, whether with regard to post-school education, or rehabilitation and employment programmes, in addition to proposals to enhance supportive services, including the expansion of sign language education. On the investment issue, the interventions touched on the readiness of economic zones, and maximizing the benefit from national resources, while announcing a direction to regulate the export of mineral ores, and preventing the export of chrome ore with a concentration of less than 36 percent as of the middle of the year, in addition to indicating the growth of foreign direct investment by more than 71 percent compared to 2021. To reach about 31 billion Omani riyals. On the youth side, a number of students called for the provision of incubators that adopt innovations and link them to the needs of development and the labor market in a way that enhances the culture of production and entrepreneurship. At the conclusion of the session, His Highness Sayyid Yazan bin Haitham Al Said honored the winning teams in the “Idea Makers Hum” program of the Oman Investment Authority within the work of the “Together We Progress” forum within the framework of supporting national initiatives that enhance innovation and stimulate sustainable solutions. In the governorates track, the “Al-Nim Camp” team won first place, the “Waub” team came in second place, and the “Dar Al-Qaidh” team came in third place. In the corporate track, the “Mubeen Solutions” team won first place, followed by the “Azdara” team in second place, while the “Link” team came in third place. As for the research and universities track, the “Digital Twin” team won first place, the “Sultan Qaboos University” team came in second place, while the “Mohamed Mahyoub” team took third place. His Highness also honored the members of the judging committee, which included Ayman bin Ahmed Al Hosani, Ashraf bin Hamad Al Mamari, Engineer Sultan bin Ali Al Mamari, Engineer Zaid bin Abdullah Al Salmani, and Khawla bint Hamoud Al Harithiya. In appreciation of their efforts in evaluating the participating teams. The honoring ceremony concluded with taking a souvenir photo with His Highness to celebrate the achievements of the winning teams. The “Together We Progress” forum concluded its activities today at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Center after a program that included holding four main dialogue sessions that discussed improving government services, enhancing productivity and competitiveness, and enabling self-employment and entrepreneurship to build a productive national economy and a sustainable labor market, and the open dialogue session with His Highness the Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, in addition to a session that discussed the role of the five-year plan. And the priority sectors in building a diversified and sustainable economy, in addition to the activities of the accompanying exhibition. The first discussion session The first session of the second day of the forum witnessed a presentation on improving government services, and the impact of digital transformation in raising efficiency, enhancing competitiveness, and achieving beneficiary satisfaction, with the participation of a number of Their Excellencies from the authorities concerned with the communications, energy, water and investment sectors. The participants stressed that improving services is no longer a temporary option, but rather represents a national necessity directly linked to the objectives of “Oman Vision 2040.” In light of the expansion of digital government applications, integration of platforms, and development of work environments, government institutions are witnessing. His Excellency Engineer Saeed bin Hamoud Al-Maawali, Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, said: The royal directives of His Majesty the Sultan – may God protect and preserve him – are based on integration between government agencies, raising the level of transparency, and accelerating performance coupled with clear measurement and empowerment tools at the individual and institutional levels. His Excellency explained that digital government indicators show a continuous improvement in the satisfaction of beneficiaries; The level of general satisfaction reached about 80 percent, indicating that the use of digital services has increased by 400 percent since 2022, while the growth rate in 2025 alone exceeded more than 80 percent. He added that approximately 1,540 government employees are working within the digital transformation teams in various entities within the framework of implementation plans that are subject to continuous monitoring and evaluation. For his part, His Excellency Dr. Mansour bin Talib Al Hinai, Chairman of the Public Services Regulatory Authority, reviewed the volume of investments in the sectors subject to the authority’s regulation, indicating that they include electricity, water, sanitation, gas transportation, and solid waste. He pointed out that investments in electricity production amounted to about 3 billion Omani riyals, with an increasing trend to diversify energy sources; Two wind power plants and a solar power plant were recently assigned, in addition to new gas plants, in addition to the move to introduce electricity production using hydrogen. He added that investments in electricity transmission and distribution networks approached one and a half billion riyals, ensuring that production capacities are absorbed and delivered to the final consumer. In the water sector, he explained that desalination and production investments amount to about 350 million riyals, while network investments amount to approximately one and a half billion, in addition to about 300 million riyals for sanitation projects. As for the gas transportation sector, its investments amount to about 200 million riyals, bringing the total investments in these sectors to between 6 and 7 billion Omani riyals. His Excellency said: For the first time, we will have stations to produce electricity from hydrogen, indicating that the stations are a new step towards the future of energy in the Sultanate of Oman. He stressed that these projects aim to raise the quality of services, achieve beneficiary satisfaction, and support economic expansion in addition to improving the efficiency of energy use and reducing the carbon footprint in line with the goals of zero neutrality by the year 2050. In turn, His Excellency Dr. Ali bin Amer Al-Shaythani, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology for Communications and Information Technology, explained that the government’s digital transformation program has achieved achievements over the past five years at the legislative, regulatory and technical levels. He pointed to the modernization of the electronic transactions law, the issuance of the national records law, and the adoption of a regulation regulating digital transformation in addition to A package of policies for cloud computing and unifying government platforms. He stated that the number of digital transformation projects reached about 1,600 projects in 57 government institutions, of which approximately 75 percent were completed, with the follow-up of specialized teams whose members number about 1,500 employees. He added that the number of electronic transactions increased by 77 percent, while data exchange via the government integration platform increased by 400 percent. The number of data providers increased from 30 entities in 2021 to 50 entities in 2025, and the number of beneficiaries from 60 to 60. 80 sides. The number of programming interfaces between government institutions reached about 300, while the number of digital platforms providing services reached 217 platforms over four years. Regarding the axis of supporting exports, Her Excellency Ibtisam bint Ahmed Al-Farouji, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion for Investment Promotion, explained that Omani exports represent a basic pillar of economic diversification, indicating that the number of companies that export continuously is approximately 200 companies, with a noticeable growth in the contribution of small and medium enterprises. She indicated that the value of non-oil exports has achieved growth. Positively, it exceeded half a billion Omani riyals during the period from 2020 to 2025, pointing to the importance of finding digital tools that ensure continuity of promotion in light of global challenges. The second discussion session The second dialogue session within the work of the forum was devoted to discussing the file of self-employment and entrepreneurship to build a productive national economy and a sustainable labor market. It presented the reality of this sector in the Sultanate of Oman, and reviewed the challenges and opportunities associated with its development during the next stage. The session touched on the importance of consolidating the culture of self-employment as a promising career path for Omani youth, expanding the scope of self-employed professions, in addition to enhancing the role of entrepreneurship in supporting economic growth, creating job opportunities, and raising the contribution of small and medium enterprises in the market. His Excellency Dr. Mahad bin Saeed Baaween, Minister of Labor, said: The “Tawteen” platform came to facilitate procedures and organize employment through sectoral supervision through 18 governance committees representing various economic activities. His Excellency stated that these committees are headed by the representatives of the relevant ministries, and their membership includes representatives from the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the General Union of Workers of the Sultanate of Oman, the Ministry of Labor, and the Employment Programme, in addition to experts from the relevant sectors. He added that the number of companies registered on the platform increased rapidly from a thousand companies in the first year to 2,500 companies, now approaching four thousand companies, with expectations to continue rising. His Excellency pointed out that job opportunities are offered to Omanis first, and then pass through the governance committees before completing their procedures at the Ministry of Labor, pointing out that the system is witnessing continuous development in technical connectivity and integration of procedures to speed up the employment process. For his part, His Excellency Khalid bin Salem Al-Ghamari, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Labor for Labor, reviewed the developments in employing people. People with disabilities, explaining that in 2020, 1,200 people were employed in the private sector, bringing the total number to about 2,500 employees, while the number of employees in the government sector approached two thousand employees. His Excellency pointed out that these results were achieved thanks to the partnership with the private sector, and field visits carried out by inspection teams to verify the readiness of work environments, which was reflected in the growth of employment opportunities within a short period. He explained that the Ministry will offer, in the coming weeks, approximately 100 government jobs designated for people with disabilities to compete for among themselves. In the aspect of export development, the session discussed the role played by the “Oman Exports” platform in providing market information and opportunities, in addition to following up on challenges through a specialized call center, as well as the smart assistant “Nebras,” which has dealt with about two thousand inquiries since its launch. The platform also provides virtual rooms for networking. 451 companies registered from inside and outside the Sultanate of Oman, and contributed to the completion of two commercial deals, while nine other deals continue the negotiation stages with international partners. The forum concluded with a closed evening session devoted to discussing the role of the five-year plan and priority sectors in building a diversified and sustainable economy.
