Early government response, community awareness helped contain COVID-19: WEF

Energy Sunday 21/June/2020 17:48 PM
By: Times News Service
Early government response, community awareness helped contain COVID-19: WEF

Davos: The World Economic Forum (WEF), reviewed the Sultanate’s experience in facing the novel coronavirus (Covid-19), describing the pandemic as “a true test of the Sultanate’s response to the crisis.”
The forum explained in its article that thanks to the community's awareness, cohesion, and the spirit of initiative and innovation, and as a result of the early measures taken by the government, the Sultanate was able to contain the virus and slow its spread.
The article also reviewed the economic diversification strategy adopted by the Sultanate within "Oman Vision 2040". It noted the role that non-oil economic sectors have contributed to promoting sustainability and growth. It also highlighted the logistics sector, which despite the closure of the airports, the ports of Sohar, Duqm and Salalah have been operating normally with 200 ships calling per week.
The forum pointed out in its article that the readiness of the technology sector in the Sultanate enabled it to overcome many repercussions of the pandemic. It added that the infrastructure of the telecommunications network helped to promote online work, activate digital learning platforms, and promote e-commerce in the governorates of the Sultanate.
The article also highlighted the success of the Sultanate’s endeavours to support and encourage innovation to build a conscious society of its role, in light of the Covid-19 pandemic. It said, "These efforts paid off, thanks to the supportive centers for innovation, such as the Research Council (TRC), the Industrial Innovation Center (IIC) and the Oman Technology Fund (OTF). Omani innovators were able to obtain the necessary support to conduct research and tests and transfer their ideas into products that contribute to facing this virus. The Oman Technology Fund allocated $2.6 million to support startups and encourage them to devise ideas for near and long-term projects to cope with the pandemic."
The World Economic Forum said in its article that the novel coronavirus pandemic came as a real test of the resilience of the Sultanate's plans for economic diversification and investment in development, as it highlighted the robust society and entrepreneurial spirit of the Omanis who are truly considered the most important wealth of this society.