Within the framework of transparency that is committed by the institutions of the state towards the domestic and international issues, we started since the last year to read the statements of the Council of Ministers regarding different topics and issues that require follow-up by the local and the private sector authorities. The last statement carried many issues that aim to enhance various areas of economic and social development in the country among which were the major challenges facing the labour market, the issues of food security, e-government and development projects.
We know that the Government is undertaking several measures and initiating a host of steps to educate and train the country’s youth under various schemes and Government programmes. Thus, the Omani younger generation should shoulder the responsibility of building the future of this glorious nation in line with the changing global requirements and to seek learning opportunities and look for skill enhancement prospects.
Nobody denies that the government exerts its efforts to establish favourable investment climate in the country, under the Royal Directives of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos, and does invest in several infrastructure projects to attract and encourage investment in the country, besides creating new employment opportunities for its citizens. This needs very strong co-operation with the private sector in order that the both sides can reduce the wages differences between the private and the government sector and increase the employment opportunities and level of social services in the country.
We need to teach Omanis the importance of business and train them to run their small and medium enterprises in the country, and expand the scope of economic activities in those enterprises that play a major role in the economic development of any country. At the same time, we must work to attract more foreign investments and call upon the investors from around the world to invest in the county that is characterised by its favourably investment climate in different sectors, especially in tourism, industry, information technology and infrastructure. This will make the country a more attractive destination for the investors in the future.
There is a need for promoting academic education of the masses on a large-scale in the country. The economic development in any country cannot be achieved unless the population is well educated academically, trained and qualified. Therefore, it is very important that the government must invest in human resources besides developing the infrastructure of the country.
These steps can create important social change in a country, and achieve more progress and development in economic and social sectors. Some experts believe that one of the challenges facing the political leaders in the region is meeting the increasing number of people’s expectations. In this region, there are plenty of ambitious projects people wish to be implemented, although there has been a remarkable progress in many areas and fields. Such changes and developments will contribute to the growth and the progress of the region. It is also essential for us to have a co-ordinated dialogue so that the challenges can be collectively redressed.
Many people believe that Oman has achieved impressive development in the country and ensured increased public and political participation in the last few years ago. The country could establish the rule of law and fix the unemployment problem among the young people, apart from encouraging investment in training and rehabilitation programmes for the citizens. However, we need more reform packages to be adopted and taken up by the government in future that can bring more changes and offer more jobs for the citizens.
On the other side, the job-seekers, especially the youth, have to accept to work in the private sector, especially since the opportunities in this sector are much greater than in the government sector. As the statement mentioned by the Council, disinterest in private sector jobs and suspension of work reflect negatively on the sector and the economy at large. This is the problem that must be addressed seriously in order to reduce the number of job-seekers in the country.