Oman lures investors with national construction strategy

Oman National Spatial Strategy will outline construction options and alternatives for all governorates in the sultanate [representational image].

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Oman is working on the development of a construction strategy applicable across the country, it has been revealed.

A meeting was recently held by the steering committee of Oman National Spatial Strategy (ONSS), part of the sultanate's Supreme Council for Planning (SCP), to carry out the strategy's development.

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Dr Hilal bin Ali Al-Qamshouie, director of ONSS, delivered a presentation outlining the project's timeline and status, alongside a team of consultants. 

ONSS aims to develop a strategy encompassing construction programmes for all governorates in the sultanate. 

The strategy will also propose construction options and alternatives, which will be reviewed in collaboration with public organisations, municipal councils, and societies. 

It is expected that the study will help identify and select construction alternatives best suited for each governorate in the country. 

According to SCP's website, ONSS will outline the country's desired spatial developments up to 2040, and will also include implementation programmes and proposals for a legal planning framework, a new planning information system, and capacity building programmes.

Each regional spatial strategy will comprise a development plan with related regulatory instruments at the local level, SCP's website adds. 

Explaining the benefits that investors would receive through ONSS, SCP adds: "For investors, it is extremely important to know what the spatial policies are for the long term, both in the whole country and in the governorates.

"After all, investors will put their money in all kinds of real estates. Their return on investments and future value depend heavily on the right location and the expected developments in the neighborhood.

"A well-guided spatial strategy is also of importance for offering sufficient space for the growth ambitions of the private sector and to attract new foreign businesses." 

ONA reported that the ONSS team's latest meeting was chaired by Dr Ali bin Masoud al-Sunaidy, Oman's Minister of Commerce and Industry, and deputy chairman of SCP. 

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