Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) students will be partners in preparations of Oman’s tenth five-year plan, the first operational plan as part of its Vision 2040, said Talal bin Sulaiman al Rahbi, Deputy Secretary-General of the Supreme Council for Planning (SCP) on Wednesday.

The SCP Secretary-General, who was speaking at a panel discussion on Development Planning and the future of Omani Economy held at SQU, also said that Oman had achieved 70 % of the 2020 vision goals despite some challenges, and that “Oman is the first country in the region to have a vision.”

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During the panel discussion, Rahbi also touched upon the role of public and private sectors in contributing to the national economy. According to him, the private sector currently accounts for about 15% and its contribution to economic development is still weak.

The government (public sector) continues to be the largest employer in the country with most people still opting to seek jobs in the public sector: government departments and organisations. Rahbi also said that the construction sector is one of the most important reasons for the presence of expatriate labour largely because Omanis shun off working in this sector.

According to Rahbi, increase the rate of Omanisation in the private sector was a major challenge and the attempt to address it continues even in Vision 2040.

“A lot of effort is needed to make the private sector jobs more attractive for the young generation so that more Omanis can fill the jobs available in this sector,” he said and added that number of plans and ideas have been put forward to address this issue, including the “creation of a national training fund that will directly supply the sectors with human resources.”