Selected Issues Papers

Fostering Entrepreneurship and SMEs to Support Economic Diversification in Oman: Oman

By Bilal Tabti

April 15, 2025

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Bilal Tabti. "Fostering Entrepreneurship and SMEs to Support Economic Diversification in Oman: Oman", Selected Issues Papers 2025, 035 (2025), accessed April 18, 2025, https://doi.org/10.5089/9798229008372.018

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Summary

The transition to a vibrant economy under Oman Vision 2040 and the urgency to develop a more dynamic private sector that can absorb the entry of a young and educated labor force both stress the need to empower SMEs, which play a large role in supporting job creation and nonhydrocarbon activity in Oman. This note takes stock of the role of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Oman, identifies past and current bottlenecks that hinder entrepreneurial dynamism, and documents recent reforms aimed at lowering the costs associated with doing business, facilitating access to finance, and enhancing the integration of SMEs into value chains. The analysis suggests that policies complementing existing initiatives, through a private sector driven credit guarantee scheme, by adapting insolvency frameworks tailored to SMEs, and supporting linkages between SMEs and multinational enterprises in Special Economic Zones (SEZs), could help maximize long-term gains to SMEs and the broader economy.

Subject: Bank credit, Commercial banks, Corporate insolvency, Credit, Economic sectors, Financial crises, Financial institutions, Financial sector policy and analysis, Labor, Loans, Money, Self-employment, Small and medium enterprises, Solvency, Special economic zones, Taxes

Keywords: Bank credit, Commercial banks, Corporate insolvency, Credit, Credit bureaus, Credit guarantees, Entrepreneurship, Foreign corporations, Foreign investment, Global value chains, Loans, Self-employment, Skill building, Small and medium enterprises, SME policy, Solvency, Special economic zones, Technology policy, Training

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