[Oman-L] Interview: Oman Daily Observer with Minister of National Economy

[Joachim Duester]

Oman considering rail network between Sohar and Barka 
 
Oman Daily Observer, 14 April, 2008

The Sultanate is considering to build a 200-km-long
railway network between Sohar and Barka, with the
possibility of extending up to Al Duqm in the
southeastern part of the country. “We are planning to
build a railway line between Sohar and Barka. This
could be extended to Al Duqm,” Ahmed bin Abdulnabi
Macki, Minister of National Economy, told the Observer
on the sidelines of the Oman Economic Forum. Macki,
who was responding to Observer queries, said that the
project is at an early stage. “We are looking at all
possibilities...,” he added. The rail network is aimed
at carrying goods between the industrial city of Sohar
and Barka.

A rail link could be an ideal solution to the emerging
needs of a viable transport network to connect the
industrial city of Sohar and Al Duqm with other parts
of the country, with the latter witnessing a massive
development including a modern port, a ship repair
facility and the proposed refinery-cum-petrochemical
complex. On the envisaged investment on railway
project, he said; “I cannot tell the envisaged
investment now. The project is still under study,” the
minister noted.

This will be the first railway network in the country
that solely depends on road for all inland transport
requirements. The Supreme Committee for Town Planning
will be assigned to oversee the rail project. The
government has been investing heavily for developing
infrastructure, including seaports, airports and
expressways. Addressing the inaugural session of Oman
Economic Forum earlier, Macki said that the total
state revenue soared by 15.4 per cent to RO 5,791
million for the first 11 months ending November 2007
from RO 5,017 million for the same period last year.

The gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices
touched RO 15,512 million last year, with non-oil
activities amounting to RO 8,719 million.
Macki said that the Seventh Five-Year Plan accords
special priority to economic diversification, human
resource development, research and development
activities and information technology. Referring to
progress made in the education sector, the minister
said the Sultanate has accomplished tangible
achievements in the recent past. “The education
indicators improved, as the intake rates increased
significantly and the illiteracy among population at
the age of 15 years and above declined to 22 per
cent,” he noted.

Moreover, the number of Omani employees enrolled in
the Public Authority for Social Insurance rose from
about 114,300 by end-2006 to 131,800 for the same
period in 2007. Saying that the government has been
attaching importance to employment generation, he
noted that as many as 199,000 new employment
opportunities will be made available with the
investments during the Seventh Five-Year Plan period.
The growth rate in employment generation will be
around 6.5 per cent per annum during the plan period.

Referring to tourism sector, Macki said that the
Seventh Plan aims at achieving a 7 per cent annual
growth and increasing the number of tourist nights by
the same percentage to reach 11 million nights by
2010. He said that the government is taking several
measures to achieve such a growth rate. These include
establishing an integrated database on tourism,
developing new types of tourism, setting up integrated
tourism complexes and attracting foreign direct
investment in tourism ventures.

Macki said that several measures have been taken to
privatise management of solid, hazardous and medical
wastes. These measures include preparing a law for the
sector, establishing an independent regulatory body
and a holding company — Oman Holding Company for
Environmental services. The minister also noted that
the foreign direct investment in Oman soared by 50 per
cent to RO 5,997 million in 2006 from RO 4,007 million
in the previous year.

Speaking at the opening session, Maqbool bin Ali
Sultan, Minister of Commerce and Industry, said that
the government has been working on developing
infrastructure — seaports, airports and roads. The
government, he said, has been taking important steps
to liberalise the economy and encourage private
sector. However, despite these developments, the
country is facing challenges. One of the major
challenges is to maintain the Sultanate’s competitive
strength at national, regional and international
levels, he noted.

Another challenge is to develop non-oil sectors like
tourism, fisheries, mineral and downstream industries.
Several experts have presented papers on the
Sultanate’s economic policies, investment environment,
business opportunities, tourism and real estate
sector. Awards for lifetime achievements were given
away at the event to Shaikh Saud bin Ali al Khalili,
Chairman of Al Taher Group, Shaikh Suhail Slaim
Bahwan, Chairman of Suhail Bahwan Group, and Mohammed
al Barwani, Chairman of MB Petroleum. The two-day
meeting was organised by the Ministry of Commerce and
Industry, in association with the Omani Centre for
Investment Promotion and Exports Development (Ociped)
and Business and Economy group.