A1 ‘Need to create more employment opportunities’

“What we need is to create more employment opportunities and more diversification in our economy, by asking companies in manufacturing, agriculture, logistics, and so on, to work directly and in partnership with those in oil and gas.”

The same was reflected by Kenneth Macfarlane, office managing partner – Oman, for KPMG Lower Gulf. KPMG recently released a global report which said that CEOs believe optimism is back in the boardroom, despite the emergence of COVID variants.

The KPMG 2021 CEO Outlook, which interviewed 1,325 global CEOs from 11 major markets, found that 60 per cent of leaders are confident about the global economy’s growth prospects over the next three years, up from 42 per cent in the January/February’s pulse survey.

Macfarlane said, “Well managed by government leadership, Oman has handled the pandemic effectively and is turning a crisis into an opportunity for growth. This stability creates a foundation for

CEOs to project a positive, optimistic environment and encourage employee productivity and creativity.”

“To tackle the potential environmental challenges, CEOs would do well to invest in digitalization and disruptive technology,” he added. “CEOs are also pushing investment in environment, social and corporate governance strategies up the business agenda to deliver expected returns and help build a more equitable and sustainable future.”