State Council discusses higher retirement age for experts

Muscat: Extending the retirement age of “individuals having specialised experience to avail of their expertise in vital areas for national benefit” was among a clutch of proposals discussed by the State Council yesterday.
The 7th Regular Session, of the State Council was chaired by Dr. Yahya bin Mahfoudh Al Mantheri, Chairman of the State Council, in the presence of the members and the Secretary-General of the Council.
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The other proposals discussed included the “Unified law regulating the activity of companies and private institutions working in the field of urgent mail and parcels to the GCC States” and proposal of the Special Committee formed to study “Promotion of Mineral wealth.”
The “Unified law regulating the activity of companies and private institutions working in the field of urgent mail and parcels to the GCC States” and the report of the Economic Committee, had earlier been forwarded by the Council of Ministers.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al Harthy, Head of the Economic Committee presented its statement on the “Unified law regulating the activity of companies and private institutions working in the field of urgent mail and parcels to the GCC States”
He explained that it included 42 articles divided into six chapters: General definitions and provisions, licences, obligations of the licencee, financial provisions, penalties and measures, and final clauses.
Al Harthy said the Economic Committee discussed the views of both the Majlis Al Shura and the Legal Committee and agreed with most of them.
The Council discussed the proposal that the Education and Research Committee desired to study - utilising the services of retired individuals to benefit from their expertise.
Abdullah bin Mubarak Al Shanfari, Head of the Education and Research Committee indicated that the proposal aimed to extend the retirement age for the category of individuals having specialised experience to avail of their expertise in vital areas for national benefit.
He cited several justifications for the review of the extension of retirement age, which included the economic dimension, the intellectual security dimension, the legislative dimension and the procedural dimension. He stressed that extending the retirement age would enable the State to make the most of their human resources.
Following discussions, the Council decided to submit it for further consideration by the Committee and re-submit it to the Council at its next Regular Session with the observations and comments of the members.
The Council then discussed the proposal of the Special Committee formed to study the “promotion of mineral wealth”, regarding which Sayyid Dr. Said Sultan Hamood Al Busaidi, Committee head said: The Sultanate is replete with various mineral resources of high economic value, which can is an important tributary of the national economy if it is better exploited. The Government’s serious approach has emerged, seeking to maximise its contribution to the domestic product and adopt it as one of the five promising sectors for economic diversification.
In addition, he said, “Consistent with these tireless efforts of the Government to develop the sector, and in support of it, the Council formed this Special Committee and tasked it to study the “promotion of mineral wealth.”
The Council was briefed on the Secretariat report and noted the preliminary document of “Oman 2040”, as well as a number of reports of on assisting the Information and Research Centre.