Muscat: Oman has officially launched the implementation of its Eleventh Five-Year Development Plan (2026–2030), marking a key milestone in the Sultanate’s long-term development journey under Oman Vision 2040.

The plan reflects tangible outcomes already felt by citizens, including the rollout of the social protection system, higher social spending, increased support for food commodities and basic services, and expanded development investments in healthcare, education, housing, roads and other critical infrastructure. Strategic projects across economic diversification and service sectors are expected to further enhance resilience and long-term prosperity.

The Eleventh Five-Year Plan is structured around three integrated tracks. These include a time track that divides implementation into three work programmes; a mixed track that combines technical inputs from sectoral teams with new strategic programmes to ensure flexibility and adaptability; and a planning track that links economic and social development through two core pillars, economic and developmental, to support national priorities and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Under the economic track, the plan focuses on accelerating diversification, promoting innovation and ensuring financial sustainability, with the objective of reducing dependence on oil revenues and boosting export capacity. The development track prioritises infrastructure completion, balanced social and environmental development, higher household incomes and improved quality of life. Key focus areas include decentralisation, empowering governorates to make development decisions, stimulating local investment, expanding smart cities, upgrading transport networks, advancing digital government services, strengthening governance and institutional performance, and promoting environmental sustainability through green economy programmes, renewable energy and reduced carbon emissions.

Dr. Salem bin Abdullah Al-Sheikh, official spokesperson for the Ministry of Economy, said the plan places financial sustainability, growth and economic diversification at the heart of comprehensive development. Speaking to the Oman News Agency, he said the plan was prepared using a forward-looking strategic approach aligned with Oman Vision 2040, enabling flexibility in responding to global changes while maximising opportunities.

He explained that the plan gives special attention to three social-dimension goals: enhancing decentralised and comprehensive development in the governorates, raising labour market efficiency, and promoting sustainable social development. A major pillar of the plan is strengthening economic decentralisation by directing investments to projects aligned with each governorate’s competitive advantages, supporting local private sector participation, improving infrastructure and public services, and creating sustainable job opportunities that improve household incomes.

Labour market reform is another core focus, with the plan aiming to make employment more attractive and responsive to future skills and technologies. Measures include accelerating job absorption, expanding training and qualification programmes, encouraging entrepreneurship, linking education curricula to future market needs, empowering national talent in the private sector, promoting flexible and self-employment models, and enhancing the role of governorates in delivering quality employment projects.

The plan also prioritises sustainable social development through improved social services, expansion of the social protection system, empowerment of youth, women and persons with disabilities, and greater investment in education, vocational training, research, innovation, sports and tourism. In total, the plan includes 190 strategic programmes aligned with Vision 2040 priorities, spanning education, health, employment, social protection, SME support and national identity.

Reflecting this focus, social and basic sector spending in the 2026 budget has been increased to approximately RO 5.2 billion, up 4 per cent from 2025, accounting for 43 per cent of total public expenditure. Education accounts for 40 per cent of this spending, followed by social welfare at 26 per cent, health at 25 per cent and housing at 9 per cent. Allocations also include RO 614 million for the social protection system, RO 509 million for electricity support and continued funding for food and basic service subsidies. In line with royal directives, around RO 100 million annually has been earmarked for employment programmes, supporting the creation of more than 300,000 jobs during the plan period.

Dr. Al-Sheikh noted that the financial discipline achieved during the first phase of Vision 2040 helped preserve development gains, strengthen social spending and maintain Oman’s classification among countries with high human development, while also enabling an effective response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Highlighting the legislative perspective, His Excellency Dr. Abdul Aziz bin Rashid Al Hashimi, Vice Chairman of the Economic and Financial Committee of the Shura Council, said the Eleventh Five-Year Plan represents the midpoint of Vision 2040 and places strong emphasis on protecting citizens from global economic shocks. He noted that spending on education and health has been maintained to preserve service quality, with the 2026 budget allocating about RO 1.414 billion to education and RO 780 million to health.

He added that continued support for basic commodities and services has helped keep inflation below one per cent in recent years, well under global averages, while the expansion of the social protection system since 2024 has ensured fair coverage for all segments of society. Employment remains a central pillar of the plan, with a target of creating nearly 60,000 jobs annually to support economic stability and growth in a knowledge-based economy driven by human capital.