Tuesday 10 / March / 2026
Muscat: The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology has released a landmark report titled "Harvest of the Digital Economy in the Sultanate of Oman: From Foundation to Enablement," offering comprehensive insights into growth indicators and progress across the digital economy's various pillars, programmes and sectors throughout 2021-2025.
The core digital economy contributed approximately OMR800 million to the national economy during 2023—a compelling testament to its emergence as a primary engine powering growth and economic diversification in the Sultanate of Oman.
This milestone reflects the relentless momentum generated by the National Programme for the Digital Economy, which continues to accelerate government service digitalisation, expand digital infrastructure, and catalyse innovation through advanced technologies across all economic sectors, precisely aligned with Oman Vision 2040's strategic objectives.
Launched in 2021, the programme orchestrates eight transformative initiatives: government digital transformation, artificial intelligence (AI) and advanced digital technologies, the cybersecurity industry, the digital industry, space, electronic commerce, financial technologies and digital infrastructure development.
The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology stewards five of these executive programmes, while the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, the Central Bank of Oman (CBO) and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) oversee the remaining portfolio.
Eng. Said bin Hamoud Al Maawali, Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, affirmed that the ministry champions an ambitious vision to forge an advanced, sustainable digital economy, responding to His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik's enlightened directives to harness cutting-edge technologies in fortifying the national economy.
He underscored that strategic efforts have centered decisively on accelerating government digital transformation, cultivating a robust digital society and empowering business digitalisation—achievements that have propelled notable advancement in global rankings, particularly the E-Government Development Index and the Cybersecurity Readiness Index.
The minister further emphasised that this period witnessed the launch of several pioneering, high-impact initiatives, most prominently the Omani linguistic model "Muaeen," which fortifies digital sovereignty, alongside the establishment of the Artificial Intelligence Studio to galvanise digital innovation, the strategic expansion of fifth-generation networks and the comprehensive enhancement of digital infrastructure.
Turning to the forward-looking vision, he revealed that the programme's forthcoming phase will concentrate intensively on digitalising high-potential economic sectors and exporting digital economy services, with the strategic objective of elevating the digital economy's contribution to the gross domestic product to 10 percent by 2040.
Dr. Ali bin Amer Al Shidhani, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology for Communications and Information Technology, affirmed that the National Programme for the Digital Economy (2021-2025) was conceived to translate the visionary directives of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik—elevating the digital economy to a national priority and a fundamental pillar of economic diversification. This initiative, he emphasized, forms an integrated national framework fully aligned with Oman Vision 2040, steering the transition toward a knowledge-driven economy founded on technology and digital innovation.
He elaborated that the programme adopted a holistic strategy targeting digital infrastructure development and enhanced government efficiency, while stimulating the business ecosystem to embrace artificial intelligence and advanced technologies alongside cultivating young national talent.
The programme has achieved remarkable progress across multiple vital sectors. The unified government services portal has been launched, alongside the "Irtiqa" national competency empowerment initiative and the "Tajawob" platform for citizen engagement. These efforts have resulted in the streamlining of 3,166 government services, the exchange of 2.26 billion data records through the national electronic integration platform and the completion of over 200 million electronic authentication transactions, achieving an impressive 94 percent performance rate.
Over the past five years, 2,277 services and permits have been fully digitized, with annual government digital transactions now exceeding 29 million.
In artificial intelligence (AI), investments have surpassed OMR79 million, catalysing landmark initiatives including the national generative AI linguistic model "Muaeen"—the first specialised government AI model—the Oman Digital Triangle initiative, the national open data portal, the Artificial Intelligence Studio, and a dedicated zone for AI-focused startups. The AI startup ecosystem now encompasses approximately 22 specialised companies.
National capacity building has qualified over 11,000 Omani professionals through the "Makin" initiative, supplying the labour market with digitally skilled talent. Omanis now constitute approximately 69 percent of technical, specialized, and leadership positions in IT professions across all sectors, while representing 45.5 percent of the total ICT workforce.
The cybersecurity sector has reached approximately 8,000 domestic beneficiaries and 5,000 international participants through industry programs. Three cybersecurity centers of excellence have been established within academic institutions, while the Advanced Cybersecurity Academy has delivered 2,976 specialized training opportunities to government personnel.
Oman's space sector achieved a historic milestone with the launch of its first experimental rocket from the Duqm spaceport in 2024, alongside signing the agreement for the design and manufacture of the national satellite. The sector now hosts 25 companies employing approximately 401 professionals across government and private institutions, contributing 0.045 percent to GDP.
E-commerce volume reached approximately OMR288 million in 2025, with over 14,000 licenses issued for e-commerce activities and 313 online stores documented through the "Maroof Oman" platform.
Digital infrastructure now covers approximately 99 percent of the population with mobile broadband, while high-speed fixed broadband reaches 100 percent of residential units through fiber optics, 5G networks, or low-orbit satellite connectivity.
Non-cash transactions have surged by approximately 703 percent between 2020 and 2025, supported by four national payment systems developed as foundational infrastructure for financial technology companies. Ten fintech firms have been licensed, while 39 financial institutions now operate on the national "Huwiya" platform for Know Your Customer verification through the Mala'a centre.
Looking ahead to 2026-2030, the programme targets establishing digital transformation centres in every governorate tailored to each region's digital profile, creating a national platform leveraging large language models for proactive intelligence to revolutionise government decision-making, accelerating growth for national cybersecurity companies, manufacturing and assembling servers and cloud infrastructure locally to reduce international dependency, developing integrated cloud environments for satellite data processing to support economic and research sectors, creating a sovereign local payment card to minimise reliance on global providers and advancing digital inclusion alongside telecommunications efficiency, cloud computing infrastructure and data centre capabilities.
