National
Workshop Held to Unify, Coordinate Foresight Efforts

Muscat,
7 Dec 2025 (ONA) — The National Foresight Office at the Ministry of Economy
today organized a national workshop titled “Aligning National Efforts in
the Field of Future Foresight.”

The
workshop aimed to establish a unified framework for coordinating institutional
and sectoral efforts in Oman in the field of future foresight. This was
achieved by inventorying existing initiatives and efforts and activating
institutional coordination among entities. This will enhance readiness to deal
with accelerating future transformations and enable the development of public
policies and decision-making based on scientific foundations and long-term
strategic visions.

The
opening of the workshop was held under the auspices of Dr. Said Mohammed Al
Saqri, Minister of Economy, who confirmed in a statement that work in the field
of future foresight has become a critical element in enhancing the national
economy’s competitiveness and its ability to respond to global transformations.

He
added that the Ministry seeks to establish a unified national system that
contributes to absorbing economic, technological, and demographic shifts, and
transforming them into real opportunities for growth and diversification.
Through the National Foresight Office, the Ministry is working to build a
sustainable institutional model that supports decision-making and raises Oman’s
readiness for the future.

For
his part, Mubarak Khamis Al Hamdani, Director of the National Foresight Office,
stressed the importance of building a shared national knowledge base, pointing
to the necessity of institutional coordination.

He
stated that the Office seeks through this workshop to build a comprehensive
national registry of foresight-related initiatives and projects, and to create
practical mechanisms for coordinating efforts among government, private, and
academic entities.

The
workshop addressed a number of topics related to the national foresight
landscape, including reviewing existing initiatives and systems, analyzing
opportunities, challenges, and intersections, and discussing mechanisms for
distributing roles among entities. It also discussed proposals for
strengthening national capacity building and developing competencies in the
fields of future analysis and forecasting.

The
workshop included discussion sessions on the most prominent future priority
sectors for Oman, especially those related to technological, demographic, and
economic transformations.

The
workshop reviewed a number of national experiences in foresight, including the
experience of the Academy for Strategic and Defence Studies at the Ministry of
Defence, which presented an advanced model for employing strategic analysis
tools and long-term planning to support decision-making and enhance national
security.

The
experience of the Oman Vision 2040 Implementation Follow-up Unit was reviewed,
which developed flexible methodologies for linking national indicators with
future transformations, and developing monitoring and analysis frameworks that
contribute to risk assessment and enhancing the ability to anticipate
opportunities with economic and social impact.

The
workshop concluded with a set of practical outcomes, including preparing a
report to inventory foresight initiatives and submitting recommendations to
decision-makers regarding the most important global transformations affecting
Oman, and establishing joint coordination mechanisms among relevant entities to
enhance the state’s readiness to deal with future risks and opportunities,
enabling government bodies to formulate more effective and proactive policies
and interventions, in addition to presenting proposals for developing national
capacity building programs.

—Ends/AG