The Sultanate of Oman was ranked 56th globally and 5th in the Arab region in the Competitive Industrial Performance (CIP) Report 2023, issued by the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO).

Oman rose from the 72nd global position in 2016 to the 56th place in 2023. The report measures the industrial competitiveness of more than 153 countries around the world. The report notes that, seen through the Competitive Performance Index, Oman ranked 56th globally as a result of improvement in the diversification of added value sector industrial activities, coupled with a hike in the size of industrial exports, vis-à-vis the volume of global industrial exports.

The report, which indicates that Oman jumped by 16 places in just 7 years, reflects the acceleration of industrial competitiveness over the past years. Oman is expected to maintain the pace in the near future, most notably through the implementation of an industrial strategy developed by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion.

The strategy seeks to motivate the industrial sector and augment its contribution to the gross domestic product (GDP), placing Oman on track to become one of the world’s active industrialisation centres.

HE Saleh Said Masan, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion for Commerce and Industry, pointed out that the progress made by Oman in the CIP report reflected the country’s keenness to consolidate the industrial sector’s competitiveness. This, he explained, is envisaged through the implementation of programmes and initiatives of the Industrial Strategy 2040.

The Industrial Strategy 2040 constitutes a general guideline for industrial development in Oman, said Masan, noting that this strategy would upgrade converting industries through the application of modern technology. The move would bolster the expansion of Omani industry regionally and internationally and empower it to develop innovative products, he added.

The ministry is currently embarked on developing initiatives to raise the efficiency of the industrial sector, support a trend to use 4IR technologies in production, develop administrative and financial competencies of entrepreneurs in the industrial sector and empower national industries that access global markets.