MUSCAT – Dr. Mahad bin Said Ba’Owain, Minister of Labour and Supervisor General of the National Employment Programme, convened a meeting today with the heads of the Employment Governance Committees across economic sectors. The session focused on strategies to enhance the efficiency of the national employment framework and elevate employment rates throughout the Sultanate of Oman.

The meeting served to evaluate the system’s executive performance, review key performance indicators and interim results, address current operational challenges, and assess ongoing developmental programmes. These efforts align with the employment objectives outlined in “Oman Vision 2040,” which envisions establishing an organized, adaptable, and competitive labour market founded on effective governance principles, precise data management, and comprehensive sectoral planning – all contributing to national workforce empowerment and sustainable economic development.

The Minister of Labour emphasized the critical role of the committees in strengthening the national employment infrastructure and preparing national cadres in accordance with labour market demands. He highlighted the strategic importance of the “Tawteen” digital platform in regulating the labour market and ensuring comprehensive sector registration. The platform enhances monitoring of current and projected employment indicators, identifies qualitative skill gaps, and tracks supply-demand dynamics across economic sectors – enabling evidence-based policy formulation and targeted qualification programmes that ensure citizen empowerment and career advancement opportunities. He further noted the committees’ vital role in supporting the self-employment ecosystem.

Discussions also addressed governance enhancement through improved coordination among partner entities, development of robust monitoring mechanisms, database integration, and optimization of labour market management procedures. Participants reviewed compliance enforcement with employment regulations and assessed progress on priority strategic initiatives and short-term projects, including achievement metrics, advancement rates, and anticipated impacts on employment dynamics and citizen access to labour market opportunities.

The meeting featured a comprehensive presentation on the “Tawteen” digital platform, detailing registered company statistics, private sector engagement levels, current job vacancy data, projected opportunities, and public awareness campaigns. Additional discussions covered licensing request processing and its integration with functional compliance standards, demonstrating the Ministry’s commitment to digital transformation and public-private sector collaboration in service of national labour market development.

Significant attention was devoted to addressing primary labour market challenges, including enhancing job productivity and quality, aligning educational outcomes with economic sector requirements, improving compliance across economic activities, and fostering workplace culture in target sectors. The committee proposed targeted solutions and developmental interventions, including expanded private sector partnerships, enhanced regulatory frameworks, workplace environment improvements, and advanced skills development programmes.

The Committees’ heads delivered detailed sectoral presentations highlighting key achievements, qualitative milestones, and projects contributing to improved employment indicators and institutional performance within their respective domains. The presentations also addressed implementation challenges related to labour market fluctuations and requirements for enhancing productivity, job sustainability, and employment quality.

Participants reviewed ongoing initiatives and approved strategic plans for the upcoming phase, including the development of sectoral planning tools, expansion of private sector collaboration, strengthened regulatory compliance, and quality enhancement of technical and behavioural skills programmes to ensure professional readiness and sustainable career development for Omani citizens.

They also reaffirmed their commitment to maintaining an integrated institutional approach that strengthens system efficiency while aligning with national economic priorities. They further pledged support for national initiatives targeting productive employment growth and developing an enabling environment for the national workforce in the coming period.

These committees enable sector regulatory bodies to identify genuine workforce requirements and align them with national output capabilities, while fostering public-private cooperation through shared platforms that unify efforts toward achieving operational and economic objectives.

The governance committees operate within a unified regulatory framework chaired by relevant Undersecretaries or sector regulatory heads, with membership comprising government and private sector representatives, Ministry of Labour’s officials, professional associations, and the National Employment Programme. Committee competencies include monitoring strategic objective implementation aligned with economic development priorities, developing sector policies to enhance sustainability and competitiveness, and increasing Omanisation rates through direct engagement with sector companies and institutions.

Additional committee responsibilities encompass creating operational and training plans with measurable performance indicators, promoting innovation and technology adoption to increase productivity, strengthening partnership frameworks, ensuring compliance with professional and quality standards, enhancing local value addition within contract systems and supply chains, managing work permits through the “Tawteen” platform to align market needs with employment realities, and submitting periodic progress reports on operational objective achievement.

The Employment Governance Committees span 18 economic sectors selected based on growth projections and employment potential, characterized by their capacity to generate quality employment and value-added investments. These include: Communications, Public Services, School Education, Tourism, Real Estate Development, Financial Services, Healthcare, Food Security, Information Technology, Higher Education, Manufacturing Industries, Special Economic Zones and Free Zones, Energy and Minerals, Transport, Sports, Construction, Retail, Banking, and Media.

The meeting concluded with renewed commitment to an integrated institutional approach based on governance and strategic planning, role integration across system components, precise monitoring of indicators and initiatives, and accelerated implementation of labour market impact projects. Participants emphasized continuous development of regulatory and analytical tools, digital platform enhancement, and activated partnerships with relevant entities to build an organized, sustainable labour market aligned with national priorities. These efforts support the “Oman Vision 2040” in relation to employment and demonstrate the Ministry of Labour and partners’ dedication to employment governance best practices, ultimately empowering the national workforce and expanding career opportunities for sustainable, balanced economic development.