Oman is open for business on a global scale.
Pat Lancaster reports from Muscat. As Oman gears up for the 29th anniversary of Sultan Qaboos bin Said's accession to power with nationwide celebrations on the 18th of November, international investors are casting a keen professional eye over opportunities offered by one of the Gulf's most promising and attractive markets. Oman has declared itself open for global business and if ambitious plans to attract it materialise, the Sultanate will be well on the way to achieving the ambitious diversification aims incorporated into its long-term development plan, Vision 2020. One of Oman's most remarkable achievements has been its transformation in just under three decades, from a sleepy, undistinguished desert backwater without the benefit of roads, power supply, schools, hospitals or even the most rudimentary services, into the bustling, sophisticated, entrepot we know today. Omanis have been traders for hundreds of years.