Bridging the Gulf Episode 5 The Omani Odyssey — Renaissance, Modernisation and Unfolding Futures

Among the Gulf states, did you know that Oman possesses arguably the greatest amount of raw and scenic beauty? What makes Oman geographically critical is its control over a finger of land in the southern coast, called the Musandam Peninsula, which has allowed the sultanate to pursue an independent foreign policy straddling between its neighbours, Iran and Western governments. What makes the same peninsula intriguing is that you can watch racing dolphins, or quite simply, swim with them! The Omani sultanate as we know today has a rich history comprising early Portuguese control, a Swahili ruling class (indicating East African ties) at one point and a period when the mountainous interior (under the Imamate) was distinguished from the coastal Sultanate of Muscat and Oman. Only as late as the 1960s did these two areas begin to be united politically. Under Sultan Qaboos, the modernisation of the Sultanate moved forward with purpose. However, the cost of it was a personalisation of rule but the benefits were tremendous social and economic transformations. Let us uncover the Omani odyssey, its economic outlook under a new sultan and a bold project named the Oman Vision 2040. Speakers: Dr Mohamed Saad Al Muqadam, Sultan Qaboos University and Dr Yousuf Hamed Al Balushi, Chief Economist of Oman Vision 2040      Dr Mohamed Saad Al Muqadam is an Assistant Professor of Oman modern history at Sultan Qaboos University and previously held several senior appointments at the College of Arts of Social Sciences including Assistant Dean for the college, Dean of Students Affairs and as Head of the Department of History. Dr Al Muqadam earned his PhD from the University of Exeter, where he began to dive into the relationship between Oman and Persia. Besides research interests in the sultanate’s history, he has also examined China-Oman relations in depth, among other bilateral relations. Dr Yousuf Hamed Al Balushi is the Chief Economist of the Oman Vision 2040 taskforce and is passionate about Oman’s development and investment potential. He has served as an advisor on foreign direct investment (FDI) to both Oman’s Supreme Council for Planning and to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Dr Al Balushi holds a PhD from King’s College London where he explored the impact of FDI on the contribution of the private sector to Oman’s economic development. He has since published in different outlets, as author of the monograph Omani economy: globalization and the winds of change and as co-editor on a Palgrave MacMillan series covering economic diversification in the Gulf   For the reading materials for this session, please visit this link: https://mei.nus.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Oman-Macro-framework-F.pdf