Regulatory frameworks, policies for state-owned firms drafted

Muscat: Oman Investment Authority (OIA) has conducted a number of programmes and procedures aimed to lay out a clear-cut form of governance that serves as a springboard for operational and financial performance of state-owned firms in line with provisions of Royal Decree No. 61/2020.

Specifically, the OIA has drafted regulatory frameworks and policies meant to establish an integrated environment for the governance of state-owned firms.

It also restructured some firms under its supervision, formed new boards of directors and appointed Omani nationals known for expertise in their fields of specialty, both from the public and private sectors.

Towards this end, the OIA meetings and workshops led to the creation of performance indicators to secure the preset goals and ensure the efficiency of tasks.

The meetings pinpointed the challenges and ways to circumvent them and meet the objectives, the most important of which is the formulation of a general framework for the governance of OIA firms to upgrade their performance and regulate the relationship between them the OIA at all levels.

Other outcomes include empowering boards of the directors, drafting specific performance indicators for them and to find principles for supporting the greatest proportion of contribution of the private sector and to enable it to achieve in-country value.

At the centre of this process is the development of a comprehensive plan for investment and partnership, including listing the firms in stock markets.

This is in addition to enhancing the diversification of sources of income, bolstering economic diversification, augmenting the volume of non-oil investments in the Gross Domestic Product and attracting direct foreign investment to the Sultanate.

The OIA is currently working side by side with state-owned firms to issue a “Governance Charter” in line with the best local and international practices and with “Principles of governance of companies in which the government holds stake”, issued by the Capital Market Authority.