Foreign direct investment attraction and impacts in Oman

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Tabuk, A., 2023. Foreign direct investment attraction and impacts in Oman. DBA, Nottingham Trent University.

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Abstract

A crucial element of Oman Vision 2020 is to enhance Oman’s economic development by accelerating the diversification of its economy in order to further reduce its economic dependency on oil. The Omani government has established legal and institutional frameworks to promote Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) as a means for the diversification of various economic activities and established FDI policies intended to sensitize the public and foreign investors. These concerted efforts by the Omani Government have borne fruit, as the Oman National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI, 2016) reports that the accumulation of FDI to date has attracted more than $27 billion to the Omani economy, albeit with the oil and gas industry contributing the lion’s share of this.

Global competition among developing countries to attract FDI is at a level that international business has not previously witnessed. Governments in developing economies see FDI as a source of economic development and potential foreign investors are lured by a number of factors.

However, despite its undisputable importance, FDI Attraction and Impact is not yet a perfect science but a long-term “trial-and-error” approach which requires a rigorous feedback loop to interpret and build on what has been learnt in a continuous quest to improve FDI Attraction and Impact performance. In this regard, the literature on FDI Attraction and Impact in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), specifically in Oman is, to say the least, bleak and inaccurate.

This empirical study focused on assessing the performance of 39 FDI Attraction and Impact Factors within the Sultanate of Oman, which were specially derived for this study. The aims were to establish a cause-and-effect relationship and generate a set of FDI performance improvement recommendations. To achieve this, the researcher adopted a relativist ontological and interpretivist epistemological position, employing a mixed-use method that incorporated an inductive approach to support the predominantly qualitative methods (with, in limited instances, a positivist philosophy that incorporated a deductive approach to support quantitative methods). Finally, a descriptive research design as part of a case study research strategy was implemented to uncover the factual aspects of the FDI Attraction and Impact phenomenon in Oman.

In total, the study generated ten prioritised improvement recommendations to enhance FDI Attraction and Impact in the Sultanate of Oman. In order of priority (highest to lowest), these are as follows:

Create and fund private vocational training centres, and offer to subsidise the salaries of Omani employees to fast-track their onboarding by investors and continue their accelerated development through on job training under the “Talent Development”

Create a dedicated fund for “early stage” SME funding, along with Government incentives in the form of subsidies to promote MNC and SME collaboration, and establish a Centre for Excellence for reliable SMEs to support the offerings of MNCs, all under the “SMEs Ecosystem”.

Reinforce the role of a central policy making body, mandate the Central Bank to create an ecosystem that is conducive for competitive FDI attraction, and activate reliable data and information centres, all under “Economic Development Policies”

Encourage Possible Public-Private-Partnership (PPP) models to enhance the scope and quality of delivery of Public Services and Public Healthcare under “Social Infrastructure”

These recommendations for improvement are as comprehensive as they are pragmatic and practical. They will ensure engagement of all concerned stakeholders and be well paced over time to ensure a rapid, yet sustainable improvement in FDI Attraction and Impact performance in the Sultanate of Oman. The researcher will make it his professional life mission to ensure this happens.

Item Type:

Thesis

Creators:

Tabuk, A.

Contributors:

Name	Role	NTU ID	ORCID
Ackrill, R.	Thesis supervisor	EPO3ACKRIRW	orcid.org/0000-0002-0739-1812
Mahabir, A.	Thesis supervisor	ECN3MAHABP	orcid.org/0000-0001-9867-2830

Date:

November 2023

Rights:

This work is the intellectual property of the author. Only 5% of this work can be copied for private study or personal, non-commercial research. Any re-use of the information contained within this document should be fully referenced, quoting the author, title, university, degree level, and pagination. Queries or requests for any other use, or if a more substantial copy is required, should be directed to the owner of the Intellectual Property Rights.

Divisions:

Schools > Nottingham Business School

Record created by:

Melissa Cornwell

Date Added:

03 Jun 2024 08:58

Last Modified:

03 Jun 2024 08:58

URI:

https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/51509