The Oman Vision 2040 Implementation Follow-Up Unit and the Ministry of Agricultural, Fisheries and Water Resources on Sunday began ‘Food Security Lab’ that will last four weeks.

Being held at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre, the lab will see the participation of representatives of a number of stakeholders, academics and experts from the government and private sectors.

The lab is planned to bring private investments to the sultanate and support Omani exports, which is one of the national programmes of Oman Vision 2040, a statement said.

Through the lab, the plan is to design an investment programme for the food security sector in the sultanate, in partnership with relevant government and private institutions, and businessmen.

‘The laboratory will focus on the main activities related to agriculture, fish and livestock wealth, water resources, food safety and quality.

‘These will be achieved through improving investment opportunities, adding opportunities and incentives package, in addition to a number of enablers that include building national capacities, employment, development of legislation and regulations, as well as media communication and development’.

The plan is to also include governorates in simplifying and digitising government services, planning and developing investment tools, and opening newer markets.

The Follow-Up Unit will provide support and assistance in organising the laboratory, developing performance indicators for its outputs, and following up on the implementation of these outputs according to the approved methodology for follow-up and escalation.

‘The laboratory comes after a series of development workshops carried out by the Follow-Up Unit in cooperation with the ministry, to analyse the food security sector and study the possibility of developing it to become an economic multiplier within the ‘Invest in Oman’ programme,’ added the statement.

The Follow-Up Unit implements the workshops to assess the national sectors, analyse the gaps in their performance, and study the possibility of developing them according to the requirements of the Oman 2040 Vision.