With a young and rapidly expanding population, demand for infrastructure projects in Oman is likely to remain high, which will help the sector to weather the current economic climate. Currently, about 43% of Omanis are under the age of 14. It is estimated that by 2025 the country’s population will swell by 41% to5m, from 3.3m in 2008.
The construction industry value in Oman will be OMR1.07bn in 2009, accounting for5.2% of GDP. While this represents real growth of only 2.67% year-on-year (y-o-y), this comes on the back of nearly five years of solid double digit growth in the sector. The industry is expected to be valued at OMR1.57bn by 2013.
Transport infrastructure strategy in Oman has been dominated by the government’s desire to move away from a reliance on oil revenues and explore other revenue streams. A key part of this has been a strategy called ‘Vision 2020’, an ambitious project that has seen investment of more than £7bn in several major tourism projects.
‘Vision 2020’ includes the construction of ten new resorts across the country within the next five years, as well as extensive airport developments and upgrades. Upgrade work to Oman’s airports include new runways at Muscat International Airport, along with the construction of several new airports in the country.
The country’s gas sector has continued to grow, with intensive gas exploration activity more than doubling proven reserves in recent years. While oil has traditionally accounted for the majority share of energy production, Oman has recently moved to develop its gas reserves as part of its economic diversification strategy. This has involved signing gas exploration and sales deals with international majors
