His Majesty Sultan Qaboos stresses for economic diversification

Muscat: His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said presided over the meeting of the Council of Ministers at Bait Al Baraka on Wednesday. At the outset of the meeting, His Majesty the Sultan thanked the Almighty Allah for the numerous bounties and appealed to the Almighty Allah to preserve such bounties over Oman and all countries in the world.
His Majesty the Sultan reviewed local, regional and international situations. At the local level, His Majesty the Sultan expressed his complete satisfaction over the efforts undertaken by the government and state institutions in the wake of fall in crude oil prices and for sustaining the level of services provided to citizens.
His Majesty the Sultan emphasised the need for economic diversification and encouragement of investment in productive projects of public interest and for development of SMEs.
His Majesty the Sultan also praised the commencement of the execution of the 9th five-year development plan 2016- 2020, which has taken into account the social and economic dimensions of development for ensuring sustainability and stability of economy and maintaining appropriate rates of GDP along with optimal priority to human development in all spheres.
On the regional and international developments, His Majesty the Sultan reaffirmed the Sultanate's cooperation in terms of all the efforts aimed at peaceful resolution of the issues witnessed in the region through dialogue for the sake of peace, security and stability and for the interest of all the people of the region.
In his speech, His Majesty the Sultan tackled a number of issues of concern to citizens and issued his directives to all institutions of the state to continue with their efforts for achievement of the aspired goals , wishing all success for the further progress and prosperity of the Sultanate and citizens.—