Muscat – Over 300,000 workers in Oman were laid off in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, according to H E Dr Said bin Mohammed al Saqri, the Minister of Economy.

In an interview with Oman TV, H E Saqri, said, “The huge impact of the pandemic was not expected by anyone in the world, and there is no doubt that the economy was affected, especially the private sector.”

“We shouldn’t measure the performance of the private sector in 2020 and 2021, due to the pandemic conditions, low demand and other reasons that led to the exodus of about 300,000 workers from their jobs. Of them, around 7,500 were Omanis.”

H E Saqri added that the private sector is expected to witness in the coming period a great economic movement that will contribute to the development of the various economic sectors and the growth of the gross domestic product, thus becoming an attractive sector for Omani job seekers.

According to H E Saqri, the volume of foreign investment in Oman increased during the year 2021, which confirms the interest of foreign companies to invest in various sectors in the sultanate.

The development of the governorates is considered one of the priorities and strategic objectives of the tenth five-year plan, strengthening its role and supporting decentralisation. An amount of RO20mn has been allocated to each governorate to be disbursed during the years of the plan. He explained that the ministry had held several workshops with the governors’ offices to enhance the issue of planning for the development of the governorates.