Wednesday 23 / September / 2026
Muscat: The 7th Oman Local Content Forum reviewed on Wednesday local content initiatives, support for national products, and national efforts to drive economic growth.
The event is themed "Beyond Impact: Local Content Driving Growth and Empowering Future Competencies," with the participation of a number of officials, decision-makers, experts, and specialists.
The opening of the forum was held under the auspices of Sayyid Namir bin Salim Al Said.
Hatim Hamad Al Taiee, Secretary General and Chairman of the Main Committee of the Forum, explained in his speech that the seventh edition of Oman Local Content Forum discussed local content ideas and initiatives and support for national products within the framework of relentless efforts to support economic growth.
He added that local content represents an essential part of efforts to enhance economic diversification aimed at reducing dependence on oil as a primary source of general state revenues, through supporting the growth of non-oil sectors, led by manufacturing, logistics, and fisheries.
He pointed out that economic diversification targets deepening the economy and raising productivity, noting that discussing local content aims to develop an integrated economic ecosystem and maximise the value generated from spending within the national economy.
He emphasised that enhancing local content is a shared responsibility among the government, the private sector, and the consumer: the government sets policies and incentives, the private sector develops products and services, and the consumer gives the local product the opportunity to grow.
He stressed the necessity of uniting sincere efforts to stimulate and support the Omani product and increase local content across various sectors.
For his part, Al Moatasim Said Al Sariri, Director General of Local Content at Oman Investment Authority (OIA), explained that the Oman Local Content Forum in its 7th edition for 2026 is being held at an important stage in the economic development journey of the Sultanate of Oman, amidst continuous national efforts to achieve the targets of "Oman Vision 2040", support economic diversification, and maximise the impact achieved from national investments.
He stated that Oman Investment Authority is heading toward a new phase focusing on several main pillars, consisting of enhancing digital readiness for the local content ecosystem, maximising the utilisation of data in decision-making, enhancing the innovation environment and empowering startups, localising industries, digital readiness, and maximising data utilisation.
He pointed out that up to September 2026, as many as 2,295 future tenders were floated through the "Foras" platform, with a total value of approximately OMR2.55 billion, reflecting the scale of opportunities that the private sector and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) can prepare to benefit from.
He mentioned that Oman Investment Authority and its subsidiaries possess a growing ecosystem to support innovation and entrepreneurship, comprising a number of accelerators, incubators, and specialised programmes in diverse economic sectors, where the number of accelerators and incubators reached more than 6 in specialised, active fields that periodically receive a group of entrepreneurs and startups entering work in the targeted sectors.
Regarding the empowerment of small and medium enterprises, he mentioned that the volume of spending on them rose from OMR187 million in 2022—equivalent to 10.9 percent of total spending on supply chains—to OMR279 million in 2025, increasing their share to about 19.9 percent.
He said that since the implementation of the guiding manual began, the Omanisation rate rose within 6 months to 56 percent at the beginning of 2026, and 1,768 jobs were created, including 1,408 jobs for Omanis.
The forum included two sessions: the first titled "Sustainability of Impact: Through Integration and Strategic Partnerships Between Public and Private Sectors," and the second titled "Beyond Impact: Future of Local Content and Empowering Future Competencies."
