Muscat - The Sultanate of Oman will celebrate its 54th National Day on Monday. The emphasis of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik has been on all state institutions to continue to improve the work entrusted to them and to create the appropriate conditions to raise the level of performance at all levels. This had a profound impact during the past five years in contributing in a noticeable and visible way to achieving various successes in the objectives of Vision 2040.
Financial performance
The government has been able to improve its economic and financial performance, reduce debt, and increase the gross domestic product. The state’s general revenues until the end of August 2024 amounted to RO 8,106 million, an increase of about RO183 million compared to RO7,923 million in the same period in 2023.
The state's general budget until August 2024 achieved a surplus of about RO447 million, compared to a surplus of RO773 million during the same period in 2023, with the public debt portfolio declining by the end of the third quarter of 2024 to RO14.4 billion, compared to RO20.8 billion in 2021, in addition to launching the social protection system by unifying retirement, merging funds, and restructuring benefits.
The Sultanate of Oman succeeded in reducing the ratio of public debt to GDP from 62.3 percent in 2021 to 35 percent in mid-2024 and achieving a budget surplus for consecutive years, recording 2.7 percent and 2.2 percent for the years 2022 and 2023, respectively.
This has led to an improvement in the credit rating of the Sultanate of Oman by credit rating agencies for global economic and financial observers and experts, as Standard & Poor's raised its second credit rating for the Sultanate of Oman to "BBB-" from "BB+" with a stable outlook, and Moody's revised its outlook for the Sultanate of Oman from a stable outlook to a positive outlook, confirming the credit rating at "Ba1".
Safe investment climate
Ratings confirm that the Sultanate of Oman is a safe investment environment, as it returned to this classification category after a decline of nearly 7 years (since 2017) due to the effects of the decline in global oil prices and the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Sultanate of Oman has risen 39 ranks in the 2024 Index of Economic Freedom issued by the Heritage Foundation, to 56th globally after being ranked 95th globally in 2023.
In the Entrepreneurship Index, it came in 11th globally, advancing 27 places from its ranking in 2022/2023.
It came in 50th globally in the Environmental Performance Index after being ranked 149th in the 2022 classification.
In the education sector, Sultan Qaboos University achieved progress in the global ranking of universities for 2025, to rank 362nd, advancing 92 places from its previous rankings.
Projects
One of the most strategic projects that was inaugurated at the beginning of this year is the Duqm Refinery and Petrochemical Industries Project in the Duqm Special Economic Zone. It is the largest joint investment project between the Sultanate of Oman and the State of Kuwait, between the Omani OQ Group and the Kuwait Petroleum International Company, with a capital exceeding RO3.5 billion.
The Sultanate of Oman has witnessed the implementation of many projects in the field of renewable energy, notably the Manah Solar Energy Project with a production capacity of 1,000 megawatts, the Ibri Solar Energy Plant Project with a production capacity of 500 megawatts, the Barka Solar Energy Project with a production capacity of 500 megawatts located in South Al Batinah Governorate, the Amin Solar Energy Plant Project with a production capacity of 100 megawatts, the Sohar Solar Energy Project with a production capacity of 100 megawatts and the Dhofar Wind Energy Plant Project with a production capacity of 50 megawatts.
Industrial estates
The total volume of added investment in all industrial cities affiliated with the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (Madayn) during the first half of this year was RO177 million, bringing the total volume of investment in all these cities, including Knowledge Oasis Muscat and Al Mazunah Free Zone, to more than RO7.6 billion, while the number of localized investment contracts reached 2,310 in their various stages.
About 55,242 workers work in the projects invested in all industrial cities, of whom Omanis constitute 38 percent, while the total area of existing and new industrial cities reached 163, 176, 459 sqm.
The cumulative investment volume in each of the Sohar Free Zone, Salalah Free Zone, and Khazaen Economic City amounted to RO1.33 billion and includes several sectors, mostly pharmaceutical, food, petrochemical, plastics, logistics, renewable energy, and other industries.
Tourism
In the tourism sector, the Sultanate of Oman has achieved positive results in recent years, as the number of tourists increased to nearly four million tourists in 2023, an increase of 36.7 percent compared to 2022, while the number of visitors coming to the Sultanate of Oman by the end of the first half of this year amounted to about 2 million, an increase of 3.2 percent, and the number of hotel establishments amounted to about 895 establishments, including 34,378 hotel rooms.
Sultan Haitham City project is the first smart and sustainable project as an integrated city in the Sultanate of Oman with an area of 14, 800, 000 sqm and includes 20, 000 housing units distributed over 19 integrated neighborhoods with various facilities and services.
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