Oman Post plans to give up government support
Oman Post is working to further develop postal services besides focusing on three other sectors to expand its activities
Staff Reporter MUSCAT: Oman Post is aiming to be self-sufficient and autonomous from the government within the next five years, according to a senior official at the state-owned company.
“Oman Post is still dependent on government support when it comes to management operations. The company is currently working on a strategy to redesign its financial resources and dispense with the government support in the next five to six years,” CEO Abdulmalik Al Balushi said.
Al Balushi clarified that although Oman Post is a state owned company, all its dealings with the government agencies are in accordance with commercial principles and it is treated like any other postal company.
“The company does not have its own investments at the moment but future plans will focus on various branches benefitting from the provinces and the different governorates of the Sultanate for profit,” Al Balushi said.
The CEO also stated that the postage rate in the Sultanate was still below other Gulf Cooperation Council countries’ average level.
He explained that prices were hiked only recently, after these remained static for almost 30 years, to improve the services and enhance efficiency to better meet the needs of the citizens and companies in Oman.
It will be possible to allocate a part of the company’s shares to facilitate the entry of a commercial entity or reduce some of its shares meant for public subscriptions in the Muscat Security Market.
The company is also currently working on developing the postal services when it comes to distribution of letters. It will also focus on three sectors represented by the financial services and banks.
First, it is working on obtaining a remittances licence which would enable it to work in the domain of management and transfer of remittances.
The second sector under its focus is logistics, transport and storage. Partnering with the private sector will allow the company to book its own transport vehicles through the private companies to deliver.
In addition, Oman Post will benefit from the 11 postal centres it plans to set up, as well as 82 branches across the Sultanate which will be used for storage and as distribution centres for the private sector.
Al Balushi stated that the third sector on the company’s list of priorities is the e-commerce sector. “This will assist individuals and companies wanting to transfer parcels to various governorate across the Sultanate with ease and at a competitive price,” he added.
The Sultanate receives more than 550,000 to 600,000 packages every year from abroad and the number will only increase as online shopping and social media trends gain further currency.