Anglo-Omani-Society-Annual-Lunch

Anglo Omani Society holds annual reception

15 October 2022

The Anglo Omani Society held its annual reception in the British capital, London today, in the presence of a number of officials and business leaders from the Sultanate of Oman and the United Kingdom.

In a speech to the event Eng. Said bin Hamood Al Maawali, Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, explained that Oman’s Logistics Strategy 2040 aims to increase the contribution of the logistics sector to Oman’s GDP in real terms, to create job opportunities in the sector and so develop sustainable jobs for the Omani workforce. At the same time, he said, the Strategy aims to improve Oman’s performance in terms of World Bank and other economic performance indicators by raising its rating in the logistics services index, its competitive index ranking and its classification in the enabling trade index. Overall, he added, the goal is to encourage the international view of Oman as a regional and global logistics centre.

In his speech, Richard Stanford, Chairman of the Anglo Omani Society, stressed the strength of the historical relations linking the Sultanate with the United Kingdom and the continuing cooperation in the political, commercial, technical and military fields.

Mr Stanford spoke of the size of the UK's investments in Oman, especially in the fields of energy, education and technology. He noted that the Sultanate has taken great strides to become a technically advanced country by laying the foundation for the digital society and establishing a modern information and communication technology sector.

He also noted that last year Oman launched a National Digital Economy Programme to raise the digital economy's contribution to GDP from 2% to 10% and to accelerate digital transformation both in government and the wider economy.

During his visit to London, Eng. Saeed bin Hamoud Al-Maawali, Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, met with a number of UK business leaders with the aim of strengthening economic and investment relations between the two friendly countries.

The meeting reviewed the opportunities available in the fields of transport, aviation, logistics, communications and information technology. It also discussed ways to enhance cooperation and to increase trade exchange between the Sultanate of Oman and the United Kingdom by identifying investment opportunities.

The Anglo-Omani Society (AOS) is a charitable organisation working with the objective of preserving the longstanding friendship between Britain and Oman. The Society was formed in January 1976 with His late Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said as the Society's founding Patron and the Ambassador of the Sultanate of Oman in London as its President.

The AOS works in partnership with the Omani British Friendship Association (OBFA), an Oman based association with similar goals.

For more information about the AOS please click here. For more information about the OBFA please click here and here.

This is an unofficial English translation of the original Arabic text. To view the official Arabic text, click here.