العيد الوطني الـ51 لعُمان.. إنجازات رائدة ونهضة متجددة

On this date, Omanis celebrate the National Day, armed with the will, determination and steadfastness to preserve the gains and achievements of their country’s renaissance.

The 18th of November coincides with the birth of the late Sultan of Oman, Qaboos bin Said, due to the renaissance and development that the country witnessed during his reign in various fields.

The celebration of this day, which is accompanied by “Al-Ain Al-Akhbar” with a series of reports this year, began 51 years ago with Sultan Qaboos taking power in 1970.

After assuming the reins of power on January 11, 2020, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq constantly directed November 18 as a national day for the renaissance that the Sultanate celebrates every year, in a kind gesture that expresses the most sincere attitudes of loyalty, honesty and the noblest feelings towards the late Sultan.

While Sultan Qaboos is considered the founder of the modern renaissance of Oman, his successor Haitham bin Tariq is the leader of the procession of the renewed renaissance, whose features are evident in the historical achievements of the country on more than one level.

Achievements, most notably the historical decrees he issued last January on the first anniversary of his accession to the throne, which included two decrees, one related to the basic system of the state and the other to the legislative authority.

Two decrees established a specific and stable mechanism for the transfer of rule in the Sultanate, and the position of Crown Prince was created for the first time in the country’s history.

It also defined the tasks and competencies of Parliament, in addition to other changes that included various aspects of life and various bodies and authorities in the Sultanate, to inaugurate a new phase in which the Omanis control the path of their renewed renaissance towards a promising future, with a system of government that represents them a safety valve.

This renewed renaissance is embodied in the “Oman 2040” vision, which expresses the great aspirations and ambitions for a more prosperous and developing future for Oman.

Omanis celebrate their second National Day during the reign of Sultan Haitham bin Tariq, with their hearts overflowing with feelings of love, gratitude and appreciation for the Sultan of the country.

New order

And between this and that, the features of that march emerge in the issuance of a new constitution for the country.

At the beginning of this year, the Basic Law of the State was issued in accordance with Royal Decree No. 6/2021 to be a cornerstone for continuing efforts and formulating a better future for Oman and the Omanis, and a solid base for their renewed renaissance.

The decree to issue a new basic system for the state includes “establishing a specific and stable mechanism for the transfer of the mandate of government in the Sultanate, establishing a mechanism for appointing the Crown Prince and stating his duties and competencies.”

The Basic Statute of the State is the constitution of the Sultanate of Oman and provides the legal framework for the development and implementation of all government legislation and policies.

As for the law of the Council of Oman, it includes the council’s competencies, membership conditions, all rights and duties of members, in addition to regulating everything related to the council’s affairs.

With these two decrees, Sultan Haitham establishes a new important stage in the history of the Sultanate of Oman.

Vision 2040

The two decrees included other changes that included various aspects of life, bodies and authorities in the Sultanate.

Changes based on clarity, frankness, transparency, accountability, accountability, justice, rights and duties, in a way that contributes to accelerating the pace to achieve the “Oman 2040 Vision”, which expresses the great aspirations and ambitions for a more prosperous and developing future for Oman.

The 51st anniversary of the National Day comes at a time when Oman is moving forward to implement the future vision “Oman 2040”, which was launched as of last January, and will be implemented over 4 successive development plans initiated by the Sultanate with the launch of the tenth five-year development plan (2021-2025), which expresses the aspirations and the great aspirations for a more prosperous and developing future for Oman.

The Tenth Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) is based on 4 main axes, of which 14 national priorities, 88 strategic goals, and 68 indicators of performance measure.

The tenth five-year plan seeks to achieve a number of goals, including “stimulating economic activity, developing the macroeconomic environment, raising the efficiency of public financial management and achieving a balance between measures to control and rationalize public spending, especially current spending.”

It adopts expansionary and disciplined fiscal policies that achieve sustainable growth rates, develop the necessary infrastructure to stimulate private investment, and accelerate the implementation of major strategic projects and public-private partnership projects.

It aims to attract more foreign direct investment while building on forecasts of oil prices at an average of 48 US dollars per barrel during the years of the plan, and supporting the participation of the governorates in achieving the goals of the Oman 2040 vision.

The plan focuses on an average annual growth rate of approximately 3.2 percent in the GDP of non-oil activities by focusing on promising economic sectors such as manufacturing industries with high technological content, agriculture, fisheries, fish farming, agro-food processing, transportation, warehousing and logistics.

Corona face

In terms of confronting the Corona virus, the Sultanate has succeeded in facing the challenges resulting from the spread of the virus on more than one level, the most prominent of which was the provision of internationally approved vaccines according to a national campaign for immunization.

The Supreme Committee in charge of examining a mechanism for dealing with developments resulting from the spread of the Corona virus has also taken several decisions that largely ensured the safety of citizens and residents, which was positively reflected in dealing with the pandemic at the level of the Sultanate of Oman.

These decisions and the measures taken led to an improvement in the indicators of the epidemiological situation of the Corona virus in the Sultanate of Oman, in terms of recording a significant decrease in deaths, infection rates, and the recovery rate, which reached 98.5%, supported by a national vaccination campaign that included most groups of society, including citizens and residents, by 83%.

youth and women

In the interest of Sultan Haitham bin Tariq to provide young people with job opportunities, support self-employed business owners, and reduce the effects resulting from the spread of the Corona pandemic, a new set of operational initiatives was launched last May in the framework of implementing a plan to provide more than ( 32) thousand job opportunities this year.

Sultan Haitham also chaired the meeting of the Supervisory Committee of the National Employment Program on the 5th of last July, in a profound indication that this file is one of the most important national priorities.

Believing in the importance of involving young people in development, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq urged, during his presidency of the cabinet meeting last October, “the importance of finding mechanisms and channels of communication with them to clarify all efforts made to meet the requirements of the development process in various sectors, and to listen to their aspirations and needs.”

In the context of caring for women and their rights, he affirmed his keenness for women to enjoy their rights guaranteed by law and to work side by side with men in various fields to serve their country and society, which is one of the “national constants”.

In translation of the foundations adopted by the Sultanate of Oman in the field of empowering women in various development fields and stimulating their role in the sports and cultural fields, Dhi Yazan bin Haitham Al Said, Minister of Culture, Sports and Omani Youth, issued last October a ministerial decision to publicize the Omani Women’s Club for Sports and Cultural Creativity.

Establishing schools and universities

Concerning education and scientific research, the name of the Ministry of Higher Education was changed to the Ministry of Education, Scientific Research and Innovation in August of last year.

In the same month, a decree was issued to establish the University of Technology and Applied Sciences with its branches in the governorates of the Sultanate of Oman, and its system was issued last June.

The Council of Ministers approved the establishment of a branch of the university in Musandam Governorate that includes a number of specializations within the framework of interest in developing the governorate and achieving comprehensive sustainable development.

The College of Duqm was established last September and is located in Al Wusta Governorate in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm, subject to the laws, regulations and decisions regulating universities and private colleges in force in the Sultanate of Oman.

And directives were issued to build 6 schools at an estimated financial cost of about 8 million and 850 thousand Omani riyals.

These schools and universities will be added to the 2,430 educational institutions, 11 public and private universities, and 18 private colleges, which will enable the sons and daughters of the Sultanate of Oman to contribute to building the requirements of the next stage.

Caring for the environment

Concerning the environment, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq issued a royal decree last August to establish the Khor Kharfout Archaeological Reserve in the Governorate of Dhofar, to be added to the various other reserves in the Sultanate of Oman, bringing the number to 21.

The Sultanate has also ratified a number of international agreements related to the environment and legislation regulating at the local level.

Foreign Policy

During the reign of Sultan Haitham, the Sultanate maintained the constants of its foreign policy based on peaceful coexistence between nations and peoples, good neighborliness, non-interference in the internal affairs of others, respect for the sovereignty of states and international cooperation in various fields.

It continued, with its brothers in the countries of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf and the League of Arab States, to contribute to advancing the process of cooperation, to distance the region from conflicts and disputes, and to work towards achieving economic integration that serves the aspirations of the Arab peoples.

The Sultanate of Oman’s relentless endeavor to contribute to the service of peace issues was also demonstrated through a number of issues, such as its support for the positive developments that resulted from the Al-Ula summit held in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which contributed to bridging the Gulf rift.

It constantly stresses the justice of the Palestinian cause and the demands of the Palestinian people.

It also continues its efforts with Saudi Arabia, the UN and US envoys for Yemen and the concerned Yemeni parties to reach a comprehensive political settlement to the crisis in Yemen, in addition to the Iranian nuclear file, and its continued condemnation of terrorism in all its forms.

Sultan Haitham bin Tariq made a visit to Saudi Arabia last July, the first for him externally since assuming the reins of government, during which he met Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz.

The visit culminated in the establishment of the Saudi-Omani Coordination Council and opened wider and wider horizons between the two brotherly countries for cooperation in various fields, especially the economy.

Promising future

Despite the challenges posed by the drop in global oil prices and the effects of the Corona pandemic, the wise measures and steps that Sultan Haitham announced during the first two years of his rule were capable of overcoming these conditions and continuing the renaissance process.

The measures taken by the Sultanate of Oman contributed to modifying the credit rating of a number of agencies, including Moody’s, as it revised the future outlook of the Sultanate of Oman from negative to stable last October, with an emphasis on the rating at Ba3.

Standard & Poor’s revised its outlook for the Sultanate of Oman from stable to positive.

Last September, the International Monetary Fund expected a recovery in economic activities in the Sultanate of Oman and a real GDP growth of about 2.5 percent this year and 4.2 percent in 2023.