Oman’s Sultan visits Saudi Arabia on first overseas trip
Oman’s Sultan visited Saudi Arabia yesterday on his first official overseas trip since assuming power last year, with talks expected to focus on the Yemen war and economic and investment co-operation as Muscat looks to shore up its finances.
Sultan Haitham bin Tariq alSaid, whose country has joined United Nations-led efforts to secure a peace agreement in Yemen, arrived in the Red Sea city of Neom for a two-day visit.
He was greeted by Saudi King Salman – in what Saudi-owned media said was the 85-year-old monarch’s first face-to-face meeting since the coronavirus pandemic began – and Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman.
During the visit Saudi Arabia and Oman signed a document to establish a joint co-ordination council to oversee several agreements. Oman’s foreign minister, Badr al-Busaidi, had told the Saudi-owned Asharq Alawsat newspaper on Saturday the opening of a delayed new road linking the two Gulf states would facilitate logistics and other infrastructure projects. Since the oil price crash in 2014, Oman’s debt to GDP ratio has leapt from about 15% in 2015 to 80% last year, while its plans to diversify revenue away from oil and to reduce spending on its public sector have made slow progress. Oman has long played the role of facilitator in efforts to resolve regional conflicts because of its neutral foreign policy. The sultanate, which shares borders with Yemen, has intensified diplomatic efforts aimed at securing a ceasefire between Yemen’s Houthi movement and the coalition that has been battling the group for more than six years.
The coalition intervened in Yemen in March 2015 after the Houthis ousted the internationally recognised government from the capital, Sanaa. The war has killed tens of thousands of Yemenis and pushed the country to the brink of famine.