'Manufacturing for Wellbeing': the Sultanate of Oman’s Manufacturing Strategy 2040.

This Manufacturing Strategy is a nationwide sectoral document aiming at setting a vision for the manufacturing sector of 2040, where knowledge-driven industries focused on health and environmental clusters produce goods that will enhance the welfare of people and that will sustain diversification, innovation, and high-tech development in the Sultanate of Oman. This will be supported by an expanding, modern capital-intensive industry adopting the most advanced production and communication technologies and the accompanying cutting-edge sets of skills. The manufacturing sector of 2040 will be able to compete globally and will thus not only serve the local Omani or GCC markets. Achieving the goals of Manufacturing for Wellbeing 2040 requires (i) investing efforts in building the necessary skills and technologies and embracing the most efficient and effective forms of governance; (ii) generating sophisticated skills by redirecting education towards creativity and application and integrating technical and vocational training system more closely with the workplace; (iii) a focused expansion of research and development and openness towards novel ideas and advanced technologies.
The 2040 Manufacturing Strategy pursues the following objectives (i) to diversify the Sultanate of Oman’s manufacturing into technology and knowledge-driven activities; (ii) to develop unique products focused on improving the health and welfare of people; (iii) to expand Omani industry into regional and new markets; (iv) to upgrade the Sultanate of Oman’s manufacturing to the modern technologies; (v) to create an industrial innovation culture. Furthermore, Manufacturing for Wellbeing can generate synergies with economic sectors’ strategies such as agriculture and fisheries inasmuch as it involves further processing and value addition over the natural resources. Infact, by emphasizing the development of healthy and nutritious products, the manufacturing strategy positions itself at the core of food security, which by definition involves healthy food.