Muscat – Over 60 road projects worth more than RO1.2bn are currently underway across Oman, H E Saeed Hamood Al Mawali, Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, told the Majlis A’Shura on Wednesday.
The projects include construction of new roads, upgrading existing routes and rehabilitation of ageing infrastructure affected by weather conditions or requiring periodic maintenance under ministry regulations.
Addressing the shura, the minister said the 11th Five-Year Plan for the roads sector prioritises completion of ongoing projects, several of which already exceed 70% completion. Projects planned for 2026 include construction of dual carriageways on major routes and upgradation and rehabilitation of key roads.
He added that the land transport sector recorded 18% revenue growth in 2025, while public bus services transported more than 5mn passengers. The digital platform Naql has processed more than 900,000 electronic transactions and issued over 290,000 licences since 2020.
The ports sector also recorded strong growth. Cargo handling exceeded 143mn tonnes, while container throughput reached 5.1mn TEUs in 2025. Expansion projects and new investments helped raise sectoral revenues by 17.4%.
Investment in the logistics sector during the 10th Five-Year Plan was around RO3.3bn. In 2025, a total of 18 investment agreements worth more than RO100mn were signed. Omanisation in the sector has reached 21.6%, with plans focusing on improving efficiency and improving integration within the national logistics system.
H E Al Mawali also highlighted progress in government digital transformation. A total of 3,166 services have been simplified, while 2,277 services and permits have been digitised. In 2025, nearly 48mn digital transactions were processed – an increase of 78% – along with more than 200mn electronic authentication processes.
Private sector investment in artificial intelligence and advanced technologies has exceeded RO79mn, with 22 specialised startups operating in the field.
Telecommunications infrastructure has also expanded significantly. Mobile broadband coverage now reaches about 99% of the population, while high-speed fixed broadband covers 100% through fibre optics, 5G and satellite services.
The minister added that the second phase of the National Digital Economy Programme (2026–2030) will focus on expanding digital transformation across key sectors and increasing its economic impact through wider adoption of advanced technologies, particularly artificial intelligence.
The programme also aims to introduce AI-driven decision-making models in government, establish national intelligence platforms, and create digital transformation centres in governorates aligned with their economic strengths.
Plans include localising digital industries through national cloud systems, supporting manufacturing and assembly of digital infrastructure components, strengthening the national data ecosystem, and developing satellite data processing capabilities.
According to H E Al Mawali, the programme targets raising the direct contribution of the digital economy to about RO1.5bn by 2030. It also aims to attract RO300mn in foreign technology investment, establish 100 new tech startups, create around 14,000 jobs, increase digitisation in five key sectors to 85%, and enable five technology companies to list on the financial market.
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