MUSCAT — The Sultanate of Oman has officially inaugurated the second phase of its National Digital Economy Programme, covering the period from 2026 through 2030, pivoting nationwide strategic focus from public e government platforms directly into private enterprises and productive economic sectors. Patronised by Minister of Finance Sultan bin Salim al Habsi, the new five year roadmap establishes formal national benchmarks to secure RO 300 million ($780 million) in domestic and foreign direct technology investments, generate 3,000 direct technology jobs annually, and elevate the sector’s direct contribution to national gross domestic product to RO 1.5 billion by the close of the decade.
The launch assembly unveiled fresh national baseline data, highlighting a joint statistical study conducted by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) and the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (MTCIT) that calculated the current digital economy footprint at nine percent of national GDP. The second phase prioritises expanding electronic commerce and cashless infrastructure across the commercial landscape,following national data showing the domestic digital trade market expanding 30 percent to touch RO 288 million in 2025, alongside a 700 percent surge in digital transaction adoption over the preceding five year period.
Undersecretary for Commerce and Industry at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion Eng. Ghalib bin Said al Maamari affirmed that the specialized Digital Commerce track will focus on migrating domestic small and medium enterprises into regional export markets while integrating artificial intelligence across demand forecasting, automated inventory coordination, and logistics supply chains. Concurrently, Undersecretary for Communications and Information Technology Dr. Ali bin Amer al Shidhani revealed that the initial phase laid robust structural foundations, awarding government technology contracts to 251 domestic digital SMEs, creating 48 business incubators and accelerators, and deploying over RO 127 million in targeted capital financing.
National labor nationalisation indicators experienced sharp structural acceleration leading into the second phase, with Omanisation across technology related economic activities rising from 33 percent in 2022 to 46 percent in 2026, while specialized technology professions saw citizen participation jump from 50 percent to 72 percent, accounting for over 5,000 newly created tech positions for Omanis over the past five years. Chief Executive Officer of the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority Eng. Omar bin Hamdan al Ismaili reported that telecommunications backbones expanded significantly to underpin the roadmap, with domestic fibre optic broadband subscriptions nearly doubling to 357,000, fixed 5G home connections reaching 220,000, and overall fiber household coverage projected to surpass one million connected units throughout 2026.
Reinforcing Oman’s aspirations to establish sovereign regional compute capabilities, the ministry confirmed preliminary plans for specialised AI data centre facilities boasting up to 500 megawatts of total IT capacity. The official launch proceedings also featured the formal deployment of a national Strategic Intelligence Platform, engineered in institutional collaboration with the World Economic Forum (WEF) to guide national macroeconomic and technology policy decisions through predictive data modeling and international frontier technology benchmarks.
