PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT  

Introduction

      The twenty third of July 1970, the date of accession to the rule of the country by His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, Sultan of Oman, is of prime significance in Oman's history. It forms a watershed between traditional and modern Oman. Since then the Sultanate, under the leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said, Sultan of Oman, started establishing the pillars for its modern renaissance. Such renaissance set its first aim

at achieving financial prosperity, social development of the Omani citizen and modernization of the country while maintaining its Islamic and Arabian identify. The renaissance process depended on the enlightened thinking of His Majesty the Sultan. The clear vision from the beginning was the first factor in the success of the Omani renaissance project. His Majesty has affirmed this in his speech on the occasion of the Twenty Eighth National Day by saying:

     "It is by grace of Almighty Allah on us and on this dear country, that the vision as clear from the beginning. Such vision helped in the formulation of proposals for establishing a modern society that has its thought, originality and economic view, based on diversifying resources, building the human potentials that provide strength and soundness to the economy and provide its various branches with healthy growth, natural integration, and vital interaction for comprehensive development that is conforming with this era and looking forward for the future horizons"