‘Need to create well-paid jobs in industry’

On Oman’s objectives with the 2040 strategy, Al Sahib stated, “We need to create an industry that provides interesting and well paid jobs to our children and builds on their creative capacities; an industry that puts at the centre its welfare and happiness and is at peace with the environment.”

As part of the workshop, experts discussed natural resources, knowledge-based, and capital intensive industries. Additionally, stakeholders discussed the human capital, technology, and governance aspects of the strategy.

Speaking about the event, Michele Clara, Senior Coordinator of Research and Policy Advice at the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), said, “First of all, what we want to do today is make sure that the strategy we put together is what the country needs.”

“So what we will be doing today is validating the preliminary findings. We want to have clarity on where to go next and that people can buy it. I think the strategy is very ambitious; it’s realistic but doable. What will be required to get it done is actually concerted action between the public sector, the private sector, the universities and labour—all sorts of people in Oman have to agree where they want to be in 2040 and then they need to start talking about how to get there.”

“Today, it’s an important first step, we want to establish a consensus on what we want to achieve by 2040; we want to move to practical action that we would like to discuss with the government starting early next year so that we can get down to business as soon as possible, as effectively as possible and in as concerted a manner as we can,” he added.

The 2040 strategy focuses on three main fields, including enhancing competitiveness, the growth of the industrial sector, and enhancing technology in manufacturing.