Oman- Fifth Five-Year Plan (FFYP) (1996-2000)

The present Fifth Five Year Plan is considered as the first step towards future horizons, depending on the Oman renewable resources so as to achieve sustainable development with will occur within the framework of a clear and specified vision, based on the achievements realized.
The Plan aims to maintain, at the minimum, the current level of per capita income in real terms and will strive to double it by 2020, while maintaining Omani values and traditions.
Secondly, the importance of this plan is attributable to the inevitable changes in the role of government in Oman’s economy, from a dominant role necessitated by the requirements of the previous stage, to the role of strategic guidance of an economy that depends on a dynamic private sector.
In order to make agriculture, forestry and fisheries more productive and sustainable, the plan is expected to record an annual growth of agriculture sector at the rate of 4.5%. The significant increase in the activity of the sector will mainly be attributable to the following: (i) increasing the cultivated area at rates that are consistent with the Sultanate’s available water resources, (ii) utilizing modern techniques that will contribute to raising productivity, (iii) rationalizing water use by expanding the introduction of modern irrigation techniques, and concentrating on mixed crops with low water requirements, (iii) upgrading the cultivation of the crops that have high comparative advantages, (iv) developing agriculturally based industrialization, (v) move towards utilizing high salinity water for agricultural purposes in desert areas and determining priorities for subsidizing the farming of seasonal crops in areas of high salinity and low water table, (vi) give government support to modern irrigation systems In addition, the Vision attaches great importance to the fisheries sector, which is expected to achieve high growth rates reaching an average of about 5.6% by the year 2020. The sector’s GDP share is expected to increase from 1.1% in the year 1995 to about 2% in the year 2020. This increase will be due to the following factors: (i) availability of fish reserves and the plan envisioned for its optimum utilization, (ii) utilizing modern and high value-added technologies in the development of traditional fishing boats and fishing methods. The infrastructure necessary for the fishing industry, such as fishing ports, and establishment of supply industries, like workshops and ice factories will also be completed, (iii) amending the policy of issuing commercial fishing licenses with the objective of increasing the value of locally unloaded fish, improving the composition of quality of the catch, processing and the canning of fish and by furthering the sector’s forward linkage.
Regarding the reduction of the rural poverty, the plan envisages the following strategies: (i) increasing the share of the participation of women in the labour market, (ii) encouraging the establishment of private health, educational and training institutions, (iii) meeting the renewable demand for professional jobs and high technical skills for the current and future labour market of Oman. This may be achieved through increasing the percentage of technical education and vocational training students from 4.5% in 1995 to 50% in 2020.
In the context of governance, each ministry shall submit, together with its proposals, an economic and social evaluation for all projects proposed for implementation. This should be according to the form currently being designed by the Ministry of Development. In order to achieve a balanced development between regions, through the projects implemented by municipalities in governorates and planning areas, investment amounts shall be allocated for the services provided by municipalities.