TBY launches its latest edition on Omani economy

Muscat – The Business Year (TBY) has launched its latest publication on the Omani economy The Business Year: Oman 2018.

The new publication, which has been produced by TBY in partnership with Ithraa, features over 150 interviews with top executives and government officials who highlight the wealth of business opportunities the sultanate has to offer.

TBY’s this year’s publication on Oman details the ambitions of the sultanate’s Tanfeedh programme, its predicted impacts, and the opportunities it will generate for growth, a press release issued by TBY said.

“The sultanate, via the ninth five-year development plan and Tanfeedh, has already identified five promising sec- tors for economic diversification: tourism, logistics, manufacturing, fisheries, and mining,” outlined Khalid Ali Salim al Senaidi, head of Vision 2040 Office, a key unit involved in drafting of the sultanate’s economic prospective plan for the medium-term. “The vision will continue to focus on these strategic sectors as it does not seek to re-invent the wheel,” he said, adding ‘but rather build on previous efforts undertaken by Oman’.

These efforts are brought to light in TBY’s extensive sector-by-sector coverage of the country. Knowledge sharing between TBY and the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) has given rise to an informative infographic on the changing profile of Oman’s import-export mix.

While total trade exchange has decreased in the last five years, new foreign direct investment (FDI) laws and an overall friendlier business environment can help increase Oman’s trade figures again. In 2017, total trade balance stood at RO1.4bn.

Jüri Ratas, Prime Minister of Estonia, makes a guest appearance speaking of the extensive parallels between the two nations in pioneering digital services such as cybersecurity solutions, and in design and cosmetics.

Other key government and private sector figures featured in

The Business Year: Oman 2018 include H E Dr Ali Masoud Ali al Sunaidy, Minister of Commerce and Industry; H E Yahya Said al Jabri, chairman of the Special Economic Zone Authority of Duqm; H E Tahir bin Salim al Amri, executive president of the Central Bank of Oman; Ahmed Saleh al Jahdhami, CEO of Oman Oil Refineries and Petroleum Industries Co (Orpic); Dr Khalid Mansoor al Zadjali, CEO of Oman Fisheries Co; and Andrew Long, CEO of HSBC Bank Oman.

Ayse Valentin, CEO of TBY commented, “The Business Year:

Oman 2018 represents our five year anniversary of covering the sultanate. Half a decade’s worth of growth and opportunities, as laid out in successive editions of

TBY Oman publications, are testament to visionary governance, innovation, and successful management of natural resources.”