From jduester at oman.org Fri Nov 6 10:11:38 2009 From: jduester at oman.org (Joachim Duester) Date: Fri, 6 Nov 2009 02:11:38 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Oman-L] Oman: degree of self-sufficiency in food? Message-ID: <531328.40000.qm@web37907.mail.mud.yahoo.com> I suppose the headline for the article from Khaleej Times of 5 November 2009 (see below) below is misleading: it seems to suggest that Oman is self-sufficient in food. However, the text then says Oman is "achieving a high level of self-sufficiency in several crops, including fruits and vegetables" which does not say which degree of self-sufficiency in food has been reached. Any comments on this? http://www.menafn.com/qn_news_story_s.asp?StoryId=1093280955 or http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticle.asp?xfile=data/business/2009/November/business_November107.xml§ion=business&col= Oman Achieves Self-sufficiency in Crop Cultivation Ravindra Nath 5 November 2009 MUSCAT ? Unlike many of its neighbouring countries, agriculture plays a significant role in Oman?s economy with the Gulf state achieving a high level of self-sufficiency in several crops, including fruits and vegetables. Estimates indicate that some 1.3 million Omanis, more than 60 per cent of the country?s population, is employed in the farm sector. Agricultural exports accounted for 37 per cent of the Gulf state?s non-oil exports last year, fetching RO13 million in foreign exchange. However, its financing requirements are virtually entirely met by state institutions despite repeated calls by the authorities for the private sector to contribute more. Government-run Oman Development Bank, or ODB, provides 98 per cent of the agricultural sector?s credit requirements, a meagre two per cent coming commercial banks. The issue came up for in-depth discussion during a high-profile national symposium on agriculture that ended in Ibri on Tuesday. The seminar, held on orders from His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, was attended by several ministers, under-secretaries and key officials from both the public and private sectors. Sultan Qaboos, on his annual ?Meet the People? tour of the country, is currently camping at Saih Al Makarem in Ibri in the Dhahirah region. ?ODB contributed by 98 per cent (of total agricultural financing) during the last four years by providing soft loans with no more than three per cent interest rates,? a paper presented by Mohammed bin Salim Al Wadhahi of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Hamad bin Salim al Harthy, Assistant General Manager, ODB, said. They observed that one of the main challenges faced by the farm sector was the aversion? shown by commercial banks and private finance companies to provide credit to it. This situation, in turn, resulted from the high risks and unavailability of insurance cover for agricultural projects, they said. In the past ten years, ODB has funded more than 6,300 projects worth RO37 million. It is due to launch a seasonal loan scheme for farmers titled Mawsimi? by the end of the year. The paper also noted that inadequacies in marketing was another stumbling block, as was the presence of a large number of expatriate workers in the farms. It called for new efforts to step up agricultural exports, the introduction of agricultural insurance products, encouraging private banks to play an active part in the development of the sector and the setting up of central markets in various regions. Agriculture and its allied sectors have received special care in sultanate?s Seventh Five-Year Plan. The amended allocations will amount to RO53 million by the end of 2009, a growth of 279 per cent compared to the original allocations for the sector which was RO14 million. Together with provisions for irrigation and water resources development, the total outlay in the sector will be RO189 million. Agriculture Minister Shaikh Salim bin Hilal Al Khalili outlined the ministry?s plans to promote research, particularly aimed at increasing productivity, while a paper presented by the Public Authority for Craft Industries (Paci) suggested planting of more trees used as raw materials for traditional industries which, it noted, would benefit both craftsmen and farmers. From jduester at oman.org Sat Nov 7 09:23:30 2009 From: jduester at oman.org (Joachim Duester) Date: Sat, 7 Nov 2009 01:23:30 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Oman-L] Oman's oil exports in first eight months of 2009 up 10.1% Message-ID: <994966.1717.qm@web37901.mail.mud.yahoo.com> Sultanate's oil exports in first eight months of 2009 up 10.1% Souce: Times of Oman / Oman News Agency, 7 November 2009 http://www.timesofoman.com/innercat.asp?detail=31602# MUSCAT ? The Sultanate's total exports of crude oil stood at 158.313 million barrels during the first eight months of 2009, against 143.528 million barrels during the corresponding period of 2008, constituting a 10.1 per cent rise. The monthly statistical bulletin published by the Ministry of National economy showed that the Sultanate?s total production of crude oil and condensates stood at 194.970 million barrels by the end of August 2009, against 182.498 million barrels during the corresponding period of 2008, constituting a 6.8 per cent rise. The bulletin showed that the average price of Oman oil per barrel fell by 49.9 per cent during the first eight months of 2009 to $50.18 per barrel, against $100.22 per barrel during the corresponding period of 2008. China topped the countries importing Omani oil as it imported 52.16 million barrels during the first eight months of 2009, against 69.81 million barrels during the corresponding period of 2008, constituting a 25.3 per cent, decline. Thailand came second, as it imported 22.3982 million barrels by the end of August 2009, against 18.18 million barrels during the same period of 2008, constituting a 23.2 per cent rise. Japan came third as it imported 20.29 million barrels, against 20.79 million barrels during the corresponding period of 2008, constituting a 2.4 per cent, decline. The sultanate?s production of natural gas rose slightly by 0.6 per cent to 717.769 million cubic feet (mcf) during the first eight months of 2009, against 713.420 (mcf) during the corresponding period of 2008. Gas consumption rose by 0.6 per cent to 716.876 mcf by the end of August 2009 against 712.423 mcf during the same period of 2008. From jduester at oman.org Thu Nov 12 11:39:37 2009 From: jduester at oman.org (Joachim Duester) Date: Thu, 12 Nov 2009 03:39:37 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Oman-L] Serge Cleuziou died in Paris on 7 October 2009 Message-ID: <603269.7436.qm@web37906.mail.mud.yahoo.com> You may have heard the sad news that Serge Cleuziou died in Paris on 7 October 2009 at the age of 64. Serge was a distinguished archaeologist who specialised on the archaeology of the Arabian Peninsula. His work in Oman included the archaeological sites of Hili (near al-Ain) and Ras al-Junayz (near Ras al-Hadd, in the Sultanate). An obituary by St?phane Foucart appeared in Le Monde of 10 November 2009 (see http://www.lemonde.fr/carnet/article/2009/11/09/serge-cleuziou-orientaliste-archeologue_1264731_3382.html ) Joachim Duester From nalbusaidi at hotmail.com Sun Nov 15 04:28:20 2009 From: nalbusaidi at hotmail.com (NAL AL) Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 08:28:20 +0400 Subject: [Oman-L] Omani Halwa Message-ID: I?Z???S?jx?j\???zX?k'????u??j|?z?ex??????i?????z??v??????r?z????"~?????'?v?'???j????]??k????????b?Yb?+^t???*.???zwl??Z??^???????????l? ?v)???? 0?'+????&?h?vW?j??)?? ??)?? %???????)?r????(r&???p??j????)??"t??~:?5?10,?V-???"?=?Mt??m???q?0????!?????,r??m?TD?m????f?????*^?f???&jyj?Zr?????M=?]y?m?{???????!?????? From phillipbarea at yahoo.com Sun Nov 15 11:43:49 2009 From: phillipbarea at yahoo.com (Phillip Barea) Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 03:43:49 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Oman-L] Omani Halwa In-Reply-To: Message-ID: <761054.60298.qm@web112114.mail.gq1.yahoo.com> a??????pj+-?????n????????"jYr???????d???Z??b?????z+J???)Z?????????f?????hz????&???j???&?i???)e???I?u??x?OM? ??[???v(h?f???&??-xZ??? ?????j'b??fj)\?d?n7???????jx?j\N?&jyh???? &jyh???????????k#h???z?x?M=?]? Hi Busaidi Indeed a cool sweet :) Issa -----Original Message----- From: oman-l-bounces at oman.org [mailto:oman-l-bounces at oman.org] On Behalf Of oman-l-request at oman.org Sent: Sunday, November 15, 2009 16:00 To: oman-l at oman.org Subject: Oman-L Digest, Vol 56, Issue 4 Send Oman-L mailing list submissions to oman-l at oman.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://oman.org/mailman/listinfo/oman-l or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to oman-l-request at oman.org You can reach the person managing the list at oman-l-owner at oman.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Oman-L digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Omani Halwa (NAL AL) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Sun, 15 Nov 2009 08:28:20 +0400 From: NAL AL Subject: [Oman-L] Omani Halwa To: "oman-l at oman.org" Message-ID: Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1256" Salam to All. Omani Halwa is a delicay enjoyed by many people. But its availability depends of local purchase or via gifts from friends. International distribution is still limited. _________________________________________________________________ Keep your friends updated?even when you?re not signed in. http://www.microsoft.com/middleeast/windows/windowslive/see-it-in-action /social-network-basics.aspx?ocid=PID23461::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-xm:SI_SB_5 :092010 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://oman.org/pipermail/oman-l/attachments/20091115/235e92b8/attachmen t.htm ------------------------------ _______________________________________________ Oman-L mailing list Oman-L at oman.org http://oman.org/mailman/listinfo/oman-l End of Oman-L Digest, Vol 56, Issue 4 ************************************* From jduester at oman.org Tue Nov 24 12:31:27 2009 From: jduester at oman.org (Joachim Duester) Date: Tue, 24 Nov 2009 04:31:27 -0800 (PST) Subject: [Oman-L] 58% of GCC workforce are expats (in Oman: 30% expats) Message-ID: <898171.37550.qm@web37907.mail.mud.yahoo.com> 58% GCC workforce are expats Source: Times of Oman, 22 November 2009 MUSCAT ? The gap between locals and expatriates in the GCC workforce has remained substantially high with the expatriates dominating presence in almost all job categories. According to a recent report by TalentRepublic.net, a regional recruitment company, 58 per cent of the GCC workforce represents expatriates. However, Oman and Saudi Arabia are the only countries in the GCC that have a significantly higher local workforce compared to expatriate workers at 70 per cent and 73 per cent respectively, the report said. The ratio is however, different in other GCC countries. The study shows that 87 per of the UAE workforce are expatriates. Similar trend is echoed in Qatar which has the same local-expatriate workforce ratio as the UAE. Vital role Kuwait likewise has a large expatriate workforce population, accounting for 69 per cent of all workers in the country, while the local workforce in Bahrain barely outnumbers their expatriate counterparts at 51 per cent. The report emphasised the vital role of the private sector in the GCC countries in complementing governments? efforts to boost local participation in the job market. "Private sector cannot be referred to as one sector. Within the sector there are different industries, where each industry has certain percentage of Omanisation. The process of Omanisation is rising rapidly in the Sultanate, however some sectors may require more time," said Hashar Al Mandhari, public relations manager, Nawras. However, industry experts emphasised the importance of employing expatriates in different sectors in the Sultanate. "We are all devoted to our country, yet Omanisation should not take place just because of emotions. Contribution from expatriates will only push the country forward," said Al Mandhari. "The Sultanate needs contribution from expatriates as experiences should be shared from different countries and cultures," he added. The report also pointed out that the governments could implement policies and create incentives that will encourage private businesses to aggressively hire locals. On the other hand, local workers must also be encouraged to actively pursue various career prospects in the private sector. Quality Industry experts say GCC governments? effort to enhance the quality of the local workforce is an important step in this process. Initiatives like the setting up of educational facilities, career oriented academic programmes and various leadership development skills organised by the government have significantly helped raise the quality of graduates in the region and improved the competency of the local workforce. The study highlighted that the restrain to large local workforce in the private sector is the prevailing attitude within the private sector and the local workforce. Fatma Said Al Sulaimani, leadership trainee of Zubair Corporation, believes that working hours might be the main reason why private sector lacks of Omanis. ?Long working hours might be a challenge for locals. Reducing the timings and giving two days off weekly might encourage Omanis to join private sector.? The report shows that highly competent and qualified nationals often find the work environment in the private sector unattractive because of various factors such as a perceived inferior pay scale, prompting most of them to look for opportunities in the public sector. Industry experts feel organising leadership training programme would help in recruiting more Omanis in the private sector. ?Leadership training programmes would also prepare students and graduates for challenges in the private sector,? said Fatma.