Author: Oxford Business Group Publisher: Oxford Business Group ISBN: 1910068489 Category : Languages : en Pages : 275
Book Description
Oman’s GDP grew 4.6% between 2013 and 2014 according to the Oman Central Bank, with hydrocarbons the main driver of the economy at almost 50% of GDP. Although the dip in oil prices has put pressure on government revenues, authorities are pressing ahead with spending plans for the sector, particularly in the downstream segment. The country’s infrastructure expansion plans are also moving forward, particularly at the country’s three ports as the country seeks to leverage its strategic position on the Strait of Hormuz and establish itself as a global transport and logistics hub. Feeding off this development drive are the sultanate’s banks, with project finance regarded as one of the most promising areas for lending growth. In the longer term, Oman Vision 2020 seeks to boost private sector participation in the economy and fuel SME growth in key sectors, including construction, retail, tourism and transport.
Author: Congressional Service Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform ISBN: 9781987654998 Category : Languages : en Pages : 28
Book Description
The Sultanate of Oman has been a strategic ally of the United States since 1980, when it became the first of the Persian Gulf states to sign a formal accord permitting the U.S. military to use its facilities. Oman has hosted U.S. forces during every U.S. military operation in and around the Gulf since then, and it is a partner in U.S. efforts to counter regional terrorism and related threats. Oman's ties to the United States are unlikely to loosen if its ailing leader, Sultan Qaboos bin Sa'id Al Said, leaves the scene in the near term. He underwent cancer treatment abroad for nearly a year during 2014-2015, and appears in public rarely, fueling speculation about succession. Within the region, Oman has tended to avoid joining its Gulf allies of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman) in direct intervention in regional conflicts. Oman has publicly joined the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State organization, but it is apparently not participating militarily in those efforts. It refrained from joining a Saudi-led regional counterterrorism coalition announced until one year after that grouping was formed in December 2015. Oman did not join the Saudi-led effort to isolate Qatar in June 2017. Oman has consistently endorsed U.S.-brokered regional peace agreements, and senior Omani officials have sometimes met with Israeli leaders, even when doing so ran counter to the policies of Oman's Gulf state allies. Oman also has historically asserted that engaging Iran is the optimal strategy to reduce the potential threat from that country, and the country maintains close relations with Iran. It was the only GCC state not to downgrade its relations with Iran in connection with a January 2016 Saudi-Iran dispute over the Saudi execution of a Shiite cleric. Oman's ties to Iran have enabled it to broker agreements between the United States and Iran, including the release of U.S. citizens held by Iran as well as U.S.-Iran direct talks that later produced the July 14, 2015, nuclear agreement between Iran and the international community (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA). On the other hand, Iran reportedly has taken advantage of its relationship with Oman to ship weapons across Oman's borders to an Iran ally, the Houthi rebels in Yemen. Prior to the wave of Middle East unrest that began in 2011, the United States consistently praised Sultan Qaboos for gradually opening the political process even in the absence of evident public pressure to do so. The liberalization allowed Omanis a measure of representation, but did not significantly limit Qaboos's role as paramount decisionmaker. The slow pace of political reform-as well as the country's failure to create an adequate number of new jobs-produced protests in several Omani cities for much of 2011, and for two weeks in January 2018. Still, the apparent domestic popularity of Qaboos and government commitments to advance reform and create jobs have helped prevent more sustained unrest. And, Oman has followed policies similar to the other GCC states in increasing press censorship and arresting activist critics of the government who use social media. The periodic unrest over a lack of job opportunities demonstrates that Oman is having difficulty diversifying its economy and coping with the fall in the price of crude oil since mid-2014.Oman's economy and workforce has always been somewhat more diversified than some of the other GCC states, but Oman has only a modest financial cushion to invest in projects that can further diversify its revenue sources. The U.S.-Oman free trade agreement (FTA) was intended to facilitate Oman's access to the large U.S. economy and accelerate Oman's efforts to diversify. Oman receives minimal amounts of U.S. foreign assistance.
Author: Kenneth Katzman Publisher: ISBN: 9781701574892 Category : Languages : en Pages : 28
Book Description
The Sultanate of Oman has been a strategic partner of the United States since 1980, when it became the first Persian Gulf state to sign a formal accord permitting the U.S. military to use its facilities. Oman has hosted U.S. forces during every U.S. military operation in the region since then, and it is a partner in U.S. efforts to counter terrorist groups and related regional threats. Oman's ties to the United States are unlikely to loosen even after its ailing leader, Sultan Qaboos bin Sa'id Al Said, leaves the scene. Qaboos' frail appearance in public appearance has fueled speculation about succession, but he does continue to meet with visiting leaders. He received Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on October 25, 2018, for the first such visit by Israeli leadership to Oman in more than 20 years. Oman has tended to position itself as a mediator of regional conflicts, and generally avoids joining other countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC: Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman) in regional military interventions. Oman joined the U.S.-led coalition against the Islamic State organization, but it did not send forces to that effort, nor did it support groups fighting Syrian President Bashar Al Asad's regime. It opposed the June 2017 Saudi/UAEled isolation of Qatar and did not join a Saudi-led regional counterterrorism alliance until a year after that group was formed in December 2015. Omani leaders have historically asserted that engaging Iran is preferable to confrontation.. Oman's ties to Iran have enabled it to broker agreements between the United States and Iran, including the release of U.S. citizens held by Iran as well as U.S.-Iran direct talks that later produced the July 14, 2015, nuclear agreement between Iran and the international community (Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, JCPOA). Oman was the only GCC state not to downgrade its relations with Iran in connection with a January 2016 Saudi-Iran dispute. Yet, U.S. officials credit Oman with enforcing reimposed U.S. sanctions and with taking steps to block Iran's efforts to ship weapons across Oman's borders to Houthi rebels in Yemen. Prior to the 2011 wave of Middle East unrest, the United States consistently praised Sultan Qaboos for gradually opening the political process even in the absence of evident public pressure to do so. The liberalization allows Omanis a measure of representation through elections for the lower house of a legislative body, but does not significantly limit Qaboos's role as paramount decisionmaker. The public support for additional political reform, and resentment of inadequate employment opportunities produced protests in several Omani cities for much of 2011, and for two weeks in January 2018, but government commitments to create jobs apparently helped calm the unrest. As have the other GCC states since the 2011 Arab uprisings, Oman has increased press censorship and arrested some critics who use social media. The periodic economy-driven unrest demonstrates that Oman is having difficulty coping with the decline in the price of crude oil since mid-2014. Oman's economy and workforce has always been somewhat more diversified than some of the other GCC states, but Oman has only modest resources and has sought to attract foreign investment, including to fund the major development of Al Duqm port. The U.S.-Oman free trade agreement (FTA) was intended to facilitate Oman's access to the large U.S. economy and accelerate Oman's efforts to diversify. Oman receives small amounts of U.S. security assistance focused primarily on building capacity of Oman's counterterrorism and border and maritime security authorities.
Author: U. S. U. S. State Department Publisher: ISBN: 9781976417443 Category : Languages : en Pages : 26
Book Description
The principal human rights problems were the inability of citizens to choose their government in free, fair and periodic elections based on universal and equal suffrage; limits on freedom of speech, assembly, and association; and restrictions on independent civil society.
Author: Publisher: Oxford Business Group ISBN: 1910068764 Category : Political Science Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
Oman’s economy contracted by 13.8% in nominal terms in 2015 as the ongoing low oil price environment squeezed growth and led to the largest budget deficit in over a decade. In a bid to tackle the shortfall the government is taking a number of revenue-raising measures such as cutting subsidies and increasing corporation tax, while remaining focused on its long-term diversification goals. Though hydrocarbons still account for 33.9% of GDP and 78.7% of state revenues, non-oil sectors are playing an increasingly prominent role in the country’s economic profile. Authorities are targeting heavy industries in particular with plans to boost their GDP contribution to from 19.8% today to 29% by 2020. Meanwhile annual growth of 6% is being targeted in the mining sector, with a host of regulatory initiatives being implemented as the government seeks to boost investor interest. Start reading
Author: Weltbankgruppe Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
This economy profile presents the Doing Business indicators for Oman. To allow useful comparison, it also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator. Doing Business 2017 is the 14th in a series of annual reports investigating the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business; for 2016 Oman ranks 66. Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and labor market regulation. Doing Business 2017 presents the data for the labor market regulation indicators in an annex. The report does not present rankings of economies on labor market regulation indicators or include the topic in the aggregate distance to frontier score or ranking on the ease of doing business. The indicators are used to analyze economic outcomes and identify what reforms have worked, where and why. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2016 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period January-December 2015).
Author: Weltbankgruppe Publisher: ISBN: Category : Languages : en Pages :
Book Description
This economy profile for Doing Business 2016 presents the 11 Doing Business indicators for Oman. To allow for useful comparison, the profile also provides data for other selected economies (comparator economies) for each indicator. Doing Business 2016 is the 13th edition in a series of annual reports measuring the regulations that enhance business activity and those that constrain it. Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business; for 2015 Oman ranks 70. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm. Doing Business presents quantitative indicators on business regulations and the protection of property rights that can be compared across 189 economies from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe and over time. Doing Business sheds light on how easy or difficult it is for a local entrepreneur to open and run a small to medium-size business when complying with relevant regulations. It measures and tracks changes in regulations affecting 11 areas in the life cycle of a business: starting a business, dealing with construction permits, getting electricity, registering property, getting credit, protecting minority investors, paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts, resolving insolvency and labor market regulation. The data in this report are current as of June 1, 2015 (except for the paying taxes indicators, which cover the period from January to December 2014).
Author: Oxford Business Group
Author: 
Author: Congressional Service
Author: Kenneth Katzman
Author: Lloyds Bank Group
Author: U. S. U. S. State Department
Author: United Nations. General Assembly. Ad Hoc Committee on Oman
Author: 
Author: Weltbankgruppe
Author: Weltbankgruppe