Supreme Committee reviews major development projects
Half-yearly meeting in response to HM’s directives n Economic situation
reassuring despite global crisis n Reviews visions for next Five-Year Plan

MUSCAT — The Supreme Committee for the Five-Year Development Plans yesterday held a meeting here under the chairmanship of His Highness Sayyid Fahd bin Mahmood al Said, Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers. The meeting comes in implementation of Article Five of Royal Decree No 1/2006 on conducting biannual assessment of the Seventh Five-Year Development Plan (2006/2010) taking into consideration economic developments in internal and external fronts.

The meeting was held in response to His Majesty Sultan Qaboos’s directives on the importance of enhancing the comprehensive development march and achieving the best rates of growth in economic and social sectors. The Supreme Committee reviewed the major domestic development projects being implemented to speed up the diversification of sources of income during the current five-year plan in the backdrops of the global financial crisis and its implications to the economies worldwide.

The Supreme Committee appreciated the efforts being made on various tracks of development. It noted that the national economy status is satisfactory and capable of facing basic needs of the next stage. Efforts will continue to implement the planned programmes, some of which will be completed in the next plan.

The Supreme Committee also reviewed the initial scenarios of the 8th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) which aims to maintain development ratios through optimum utilisation of production capacities, training of human resources and completion of infrastructure projects, most of which had been laid down during the past years. The next plan will also focus on diversification of energy, enhancing of food security projects and encouraging local and foreign investments to achieve the envisaged goals. — ONA — Picture by Mohamed al Rashdi