Oman’s ruler Sultan Haitham to visit Saudi in first official foreign trip

Oman’s ruler Sultan Haitham is set to begin his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia on Sunday, marking his first official foreign visit since he took over the role in January last year.

The visit comes within the framework of strengthening the historical and fraternal relations between the countries and expanding the prospects of joint cooperation, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.

The trip will focus on cooperation in the fields of business, investment, ICT, posts, transport, standardization, media, youths, sports and culture, among others, the Oman News Agency (ONA) reported. These areas constitute significant pillars in both the countries long-term strategies – Oman Vision 2040 and Saudi Vision 2030.

Sultan Haitham, who is being accompanied by a high-level official delegation, will also meet with Saudi Arabia’s King Salman during the visit.

The two leaders will also discuss “resolving pending issues and shaping joint visions and consensus on current regional issues”, ONA said.

Building in Saudi Arabia lit up with Oman’s flag colours on Saturday night, ahead of the visit.

معالم #الرياض تزهو بألوان علم #سلطنة_عمان، احتفاء بمقدم صاحب الجلالة السلطان هيثم بن طارق#سلطان_عمان_ضيف_الملك_سلمان#واس_عام pic.twitter.com/x4QpLYBBpM

— واس العام (@SPAregions) July 10, 2021

The two countries aim to raise the volume of their bilateral trade exchange, that reached over SAR58.6bn during the past six years (2015-2020), Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Commerce Dr Majid bin Abdullah Al-Qasabi said.

He also stressed that the two sides are keen to consolidate joint cooperation through the Saudi-Omani Business Council to contribute to translating investment opportunities into tangible partnerships.

The volume of Omani licensed investments in the kingdom amounted to more than SAR318m, and Saudi ranked 7th among the countries exporting to Oman, while Oman ranked 19th among the countries exporting to the kingdom.