Muscat: His Excellency Engineer Saeed bin Hamoud Al Maawali, Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, has affirmed that the Ministry will unveil several positions designated exclusively for Omani nationals across various sectors, commencing in January 2025 and extending until the conclusion of 2027. This announcement is a culmination of the necessary procedures, meticulously coordinated with the Ministry of Labour, to ensure alignment between the two entities in pursuit of the government's directives, initiatives, and visions.
The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology is diligently executing a series of initiatives aimed at augmenting employment opportunities within the transportation and logistics, communications and information technology, operational governance, and policy approval domains. These efforts are integral to the Ministry's strategy of overseeing and regulating the labor market, thereby fostering job prospects for Omani citizens in alignment with the objectives of Oman Vision 2040.
His Excellency further stated that the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology has established annual targets for Omanization until the year 2040. These targets will be periodically reassessed through the development of strategic plans by the Ministry to achieve the desired percentages. In line with these goals, the Ministry has set Omanization targets for 2024, with a focus on 20 percent in the transport and logistics sector and 31 percent in the communications and information technology sector.
His Excellency further elaborated that the Ministry is committed to the Omanization of professional roles within the transportation and logistics, as well as communications and information technology sectors, with a vision to achieve this goal by the year 2040. This objective is to be realized through the implementation of a comprehensive suite of policies and initiatives. Among these, the establishment of employment policies within the aforementioned sectors is a pivotal step. The cornerstone policy is the Omanization of specific professions, which involves limiting these roles to citizens, thereby bolstering the local skilled workforce. Additionally, the Ministry of Transport, Communications, and Information Technology is mandated to ensure a minimum proportion of Omani employees in professions related to these sectors, alongside the regulation of work permits, oversight, inspections, professional examinations, designation of professions, wage support, training, and qualifications.
Engineer Saeed Al Maawali highlighted the objective of the Omanization initiative to replace the majority of expatriate positions in the transport, logistics, communications, and information technology sectors with qualified Omani professionals. The initial target Omanization rates for the transportation and logistics sector are set between 20 and 50 percent, with an annual increase in these rates until Omanization reaches 100 percent. The focus is on maritime, air, and land transport, encompassing both administrative and specialized roles, as well as support positions, which have been identified through thorough analysis of current workforce data.
His Excellency elucidated that the primary objective of this initiative is to allocate Omani nationals to specific positions within the communications and information technology sector, with the goal of achieving Omanisation percentages ranging from 50 to 100 percent by the year 2026. He further elaborated that the Ministry is committed to integrating the workforce across various sectors, including transport, logistics, communications, and information technology, through collaborative organizational efforts with industry partners within these sectors. He emphasized the Ministry's efforts to foster self-employment opportunities in the aforementioned sectors by aligning activities licensed by the Ministry with the self-employment registry, thereby creating employment prospects for Omanis.
His Excellency also outlined the Ministry's strategy to enhance local value addition for companies awarded projects by the Ministry. He stated that companies receiving projects valued at more than Omani Million will be subject to increased oversight, commencing in 2025.
