Monday 13 / October / 2025
Salalah : His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik presided over the meeting of the Council of Ministers at Al Maamoura Palace in Salalah on Tuesday.
At the outset of the meeting, His Majesty the Sultan gave thanks and praise to the Almighty Allah for the bounties of prosperity, security and stability that He bestowed on the Sultanate of Oman.
His Majesty prayed to Allah the Almighty to protect this dear nation, its citizens and residents therein under His divine care, to endow all with abundant blessings and to consummate all efforts and endeavors with success.
Then, His Majesty reviewed the local, regional and international developments as stated below:
In response to a briefing to the Council of Ministers about the results and made during the 10th Five-Year Development Plan (2021-2025) and the 11th Five-Year Development Plan (2026-2030)’s objectives to achieve balanced social and human development, sustainable economic growth, boost labor market and employment efficiency and proper indicators grounds for education, health and housing—His Majesty the Sultan commended the efforts of all units of the State Administrative Apparatus and the private sector.
His Majesty valued those units' commitment to implement various development programs and projects, noting that this has enhanced the fiscal position and economic performance of the Sultanate of Oman and the country's advancement in economic indicators.
His Majesty stressed the need to maintain the progress made so far and to press ahead with steps to upgrade Oman’s ranking in those indicators and to enhance economic and social stability and the competitiveness of the national economy, while at the same time benefiting from the review and assessment of the previous plan—with the prime objective of meeting the goals of Oman Vision 2040.
He pointed out that the positive outcomes achieved during the current plan foster confidence in the pursuit of future development tracks.
His Majesty underscored the achievement of the targets of the upcoming development plan and to maintain the drive to achieve higher growth rates, develop appropriate mechanisms to boost the national economy, expand its structure, diversify the sources of income and to find suitable solutions for addressing the challenges posed to the implementation of employment and training initiatives and importance programmes, with special emphasis on generating new employment opportunities in all sectors.
The Council of Ministers reviewed the preliminary results of the State's General Budget for 2025, in which the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by (3.4%), at constant prices, due to improved added value of non-oil activities.
This budget period saw the launch of projects and programs in a number of social and economic development fields.
Following this briefing, a review was made of articles of the draft State General Budget for Fiscal Year 2026—the first year in the 11th Five-Year Development Plan (2026-2030).
His Majesty the Sultan gave directives to the authorities concerned to achieve sustainable development goals, supporting economic stability and achieving efficiency in spending within a balanced and sustainable framework.
His Majesty the Sultan also stressed the importance of following up the implementation of the National Local Content Policy with the aim of encouraging existing industries, establishing local projects, enhancing productive industries linked to exports and developing economic programmes and policies to motivate the national economic growth.
The Council of Ministers reviewed the achievements of the Government Digital Transformation Programme (2021-2025)—which saw the launch of the National Services Portal, the issuance of the Government Digital Transformation Regulation, the digitisation of 74% of government services and the adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) projects designed to make the Sultanate of Oman a regional hub for data processing centres and AI algorithms that indeed enabled Oman to occupy 45th place globally and 5thplace among MENA (Middle East and North Africa) region in the AI Readiness Index.
Pursuant to this, the Council underlined the importance of cooperation among all units of the State Administrative Apparatus towards the realisation of the objectives of the National Programme for Digital Economy and its executive regulations and to undertake adequate action to boost readiness in terms of investment, technical, human and legislative spheres, in addition to addressing the obstacles facing this programme and AI projects in the upcoming stage.
After a briefing was presented to the Council of Ministers about the employment file, as well as the executive status of initiatives of the National Employment Programme—and the challenges involved—and, with a view to the Council’s keenness to generate more employment opportunities for jobseekers, His Majesty the Sultan gave directives to double the sum previously allocated to support the programmes and initiatives for the employment of jobseekers in the private sector, notably the Wage Support Initiative, so that the sum allocated would stand at OMR100 million, due to the substantial uptake to these programmes and initiatives by both the private sector and jobseekers.
It was also noted that the National Employment Platform “Tawteen” was launched in December 2024. The platform provides data on job supply and demand, displays available employment opportunities in the public and private sectors and data on jobseekers.
Emphasis was laid on developing “Tawteen” platform and devising a suitable mechanism to increase the number of registered companies and link the platform with relevant databases to help use the data it provides in finding jobs for citizens.
The Council of Ministers listened to a briefing about the results of the semi-annual evaluation of government institutions’ performance during 2024, as well as a briefing about the results achieved by the National Platform for Suggestions, Complaints, and Reports (Tajawob).
Following these briefings, the Council underlined the need to continue to develop (Tajawob) platform and to encourage the departments concerned to indicate the rate of finalization of reports within the specified period.
The Council also called for responding to the suggestions and complaints, addressing the most notable observations and following up the satisfaction of the beneficiaries of government services.
The Council commended the performance of the departments that showed high rates of performance in this respect. It also urged other departments to exert further efforts to raise the levels of their performance.
His Majesty affirmed that, since the beginning of the year (2025), he has approved a mechanism for holding all departments accountable and responsible according to their annual performance results.
Within the context of His Majesty the Sultan’s keenness in all that would elevate the services rendered to persons with disabilities, and, following a review of related indicators, and, due to the importance of according proper attention to this segment of society, His Majesty the Sultan gave directives for the establishment of a new sector, at the level of a ministry undersecretary within the structure of the Ministry of Social Development.
The new entity will oversee this sector, accord appropriate attention to its affairs, address the challenges of the sector and ensure the empowerment of persons with disabilities and their integration in a more efficient manner that enhances their role in building society and facilitating their education.
The Council also gave its blessings for the launch of the National Initiative for the One Government Team that will be implemented by the Royal Academy of Management (RAM) for all employees of civil units of the State Administrative Apparatus.
The initiative aims to instill a mindset that transcends the boundaries of functional thinking to the supreme goal of joining the One Government Team and contribute to building Oman’s future.
In this context, His Majesty stressed the importance of working with the One-Team spirit to elevate the nation to the status it deserves. He observed that “This could only be achieved when each one of us has faith in the importance of the impact his/her daily work would leave on his/her society and his/her country”.
Noting the success of the Khareef Dhofar (monsoon season) 2025, the Council of Ministers commended the efforts made both by the Governorate of Dhofar and the authorities concerned to implement multiple developmental projects, events and programmes aimed to attract tourists to the Governorate.
On regional and international affairs and, after noting the principles of the Sultanate of Oman’s steadfast policy of preserving international peace and security, the Council of Ministers valued the outcomes of the Emergency Arab-Islamic Summit and its outcomes.
The Council expressed its condemnation of the Israeli aggression against the State of Qatar, noting that the aggression was in blatant violation of Qatar’s sovereignty, as well as all international laws and norms.
The Council affirmed its full solidarity with the State of Qatar and voiced its complete support for all measures that Qatar takes in this regard.
In this context, the Council also reiterated its emphasis on the Sultanate of Oman’s unwavering position in support of the Palestinian cause and the situation in the occupied territories and its condemnation of the persistent aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip.
The Council also voiced its absolute rejection of the ongoing practices of deliberately targeting innocent civilians, medical and relief personnel, journalists and infrastructure in the Strip, in addition to the ongoing crimes of starving the Palestinian population, preventing aid from reaching them, and attempts to displace the Palestinians.
The Council termed this as violation of international law and norms, international legitimacy resolutions and humanitarian principles. It affirmed that such acts in this regard undermine all regional and international efforts aimed at achieving a just and comprehensive peace that guarantees the Two-State Solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
The Council also referred to the recent Royal and high-ranking official visits exchanged with Arab and friendly countries. It stressed the need to leverage from the agreements that were signed and converting those gains into tangible executive programmes that would serve the developmental goals of the country.
The Council also noted the Sultanate of Oman’s participation in a number of regional and international meetings and summits aimed at affirming the principles of dialogue and developing joint solutions that bolster cooperation, security and stability—to serve the common interests of all countries.
At the conclusion of the meeting, His Majesty the Sultan prayed to Allah the Almighty to grant all continued success for the welfare and prosperity of this dear homeland and its loyal people. -ONA
