Oman may be 3,000km away from the Horn of Africa, surrounded by the sea. But it has never seen the massive water mass before the Gulf country as a barrier. Now, as landlocked countries in the Horn bid for guarantees to accessing the sea, Oman’s counsel is that such desires need not result in aggression.

On Thursday, Oman marked its National Day, usually a week of celebrations linked to the founding of the Al Abusaid dynasty, the royal house with origins in the 18th century that still leads the country to date. Experts gathered in the capital Muscat to discuss this “enduring cultural legacy,’, according to a theme of a conference that preceded the celebrations.

Shaikh Ahmed bin Hashi al-Maskari, an Omani diplomat in charge of the regional bloc Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Regional Countries Department at the Foreign Ministry, spoke generally on maintaining good relations, indicating Oman has traditionally maintained an “open-arms” policy to the outside world.

But when The EastAfrican asked about Horn of Africa’s bid for access to the sea, he suggested countries should learn to work on the positives, ignoring the negatives.“Oman is an open sea and we are welcoming everybody, and facilitate opportunities,” he said at a media briefing in Muscat. “We try to insist on investing into each other in modern and future projects and we are hoping that we will be able, in the coming years to continue building stronger relationship. When you have strong ties, it is easy to work out differences.”Earlier, Omani experts discussed the country’s legacy over several centuries, having built ties with the outside world, including in East Africa, today’s Mombasa and Zanzibar, which had formed part of the Omani empire in the 18th century. Such enduring legacy today exists in the number of people in Kenya and Tanzania with family ties in Oman, while a number of Omanis speak Swahili fluently.“Omanis have traditionally open arms to the outside world. That is why we established ties with Ottomans (Türkiye),Chinese, Indians, Africans and the West. We were among the earliest to establish diplomatic ties with the US from our region,” Maskari told an audience in Muscat on Tuesday, part of events to mark the National Day.

His speech did not directly name the African countries, but it was an indirect counsel to some countries in the Horn who have expressed desire to have access to the sea, and avoid relying on others.

Ethiopia has recently expressed such views, and Uganda recently said it routinely gets frustrated negotiating export lines through Kenya even though President Yoweri Museveni argued both countries are like an apartment building with one compound.

Omanis in the past used the sea to sail to overseas territories, helping them establish a maritime empire in Zanzibar and today’s Kenyan Coast and their trade routes have dated as far back as the 7th century.“Oman has been at sea even before maps were drawn. We are the knights of the sea. This is because we believed that if you don’t go to the sea, you don’t appear anywhere,” said Dr Ibrahim bin Bakhit al-Nudhairi, CEO of Asyad Shipping company in Muscat. It runs 50 modern vessels, linking Oman with other countries.“In the modern times, we started thinking of how to benefit from the sea commercially. So we have focused on trade more, establishing ties with traditional partners across the region,” al Nudhairi added.

In the Middle East, nearly all countries have access to the sea so it is not an immediate problem. Today, Oman has largely been neutral on most conflicts. But officials argue it is not the same thing as being indifferent. Maskari said Muscat is “positively neutral,” helping neighbours in the region to co-exist. “We focus on the idea of dialogue while drawing a line on issues,” he said, adding that the country is also “pragmatic.”“Sometimes we may disagree with other countries but this does not often affect the way we deal with issues.” Oman has helped broker ties between Iran and the GCC, rebuild relations between Iran and Iraq and helped end a blockade on Qatar by neighbours Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.“Some countries have military power. Others have economic power. Oman has always relied on mediation.“Mediation is our soft power,” Maskari added.

Yet Oman still seeks business with everyone else and it is putting money in faraway economies while welcoming investors from abroad. Its business leaders have lately hunted for opportunities in Tanzania. According to the Oman Investments Authority, Muscat will invest wherever the returns on investments are promising.“Our authority is putting money in different markets across the world. We are focused on strategic investments,” argued Saif bin Hamad al-Mahrouqi, director of investments in special markets at the Authority.

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