Oman, USA hold 2nd strategic dialogue

The Sultanate of Oman and the United States of America (USA) on Wednesday explored means of promoting trade and investment, in addition to addressing shared challenges during the 2nd Strategic Dialogue held in Washington.

The Omani side was chaired by Sheikh Khalifa Ali Al Harthy, Undersecretary of the Foreign Ministry for Political Affairs whilst the USA side was chaired by Jose W. Fernandez, Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment at the US Department of State, The two sides discussed the opportunities for US companies in the Omani market, highlighting information and communication technology services, semiconductors, and clean energy as areas of opportunity.

The two countries explored opportunities to collaborate on demonstrating and deploying carbon capture, use, and storage, and carbon dioxide removal technologies, including via technical exchanges, investment, and trade missions. US-Oman cooperation on geologic carbon was reinforced by a technical workshop hosted in Muscat in September 2023 by Oman’s Ministry of Energy and Minerals in collaboration with the US Department of Energy and the signing of MoU between Oman’s Ministry of Energy and Minerals and US firm Eden GeoPower to study and demonstrate the potential of stimulated hydrogen production in Oman.

The two sides committed to pursue new avenues to strengthen cooperation in developing clean energy solutions, including by leveraging US private sector expertise, as well as opportunities.