‘OMANISATION POLICIES NOT HELPING PRIVATE SECTOR’
Stress should be on partnering rather than micromanaging the private sector, says the report
Times News Service
MUSCAT:
Omanisation policies are not helping the private sector, according to the government body overseeing the Sultanate’s diversification plans.
In its annual report, the Implementation Support and FollowUp Unit (ISFU) stated, “The current Omanisation policy adopted is not helping the progress of the private sector. That is because the ministry is micromanaging the private sector instead of actually partnering with it. This is unattractive to investors.”
The report further detailed that Omanisation stood at 35.1 per cent in the tourism sector, 23 per cent in manufacturing, and 14.1 per cent in logistics. Additionally, a total of 54,819 people are employed in the construction sector.
“The labour sector has worked on some good initiatives throughout the year, such as part-time and temporary work, which improves the flow of labour market and changes the existing culture,” the report continued.
“The panel has named some areas of improvement. The overall productivity of employees in the Arab world is relatively low. In the Sultanate, the current applied mechanism of enforced recruitment may cut down the number of jobseekers. However, this mechanism increases the ‘underemployment’ rate which results in lowering the productivity even further,” it added.
Shashwar Al Balushi, Head of the Tanfeedh labs and CEO of the Oman Contractors Society, told the Times of Oman, “Micromanagement definitely creates a problem when the government is directly involved with companies. The government instead should play the role of a regulator, issuing laws. Those laws in turn should support the economy and be realistic on the ground.”