News

State Council approves proposal to study minerals

The State Council discussed on Wednesday, the Unified law regulating couriers and parcel companies forwarded by the Council of Ministers and the report of the Economic Committee. 
 
The 7th Regular Session, chaired by H.E. Dr. Yahya bin Mahfoudh al-Manthri , Chairman of the State Council , held in the presence of the honourable members and  the  Secretary-General of the Council, also discussed  the proposal of the Special Committee formed to study  the promotion of mining industry.
The discussions focussed on the proposal of the Committee for Education and Research to study extending the retirement age of retired individuals to benefit from their expertise.
Relating to  discussions on the  ‘Unified law regulating the activity of companies and private institutions working in the field of urgent mail and parcels to the GCC States ", Hon.Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdullah Al-Harthy, Head of the Economic Committee presented the Committee's statement.
He explained that it included 42 articles divided into six chapters: General definitions and provisions, licenses, obligations of the licensee, financial provisions, penalties and measures, and final clauses.
The explanatory memorandum of the draft law included four main objectives of the project, namely: The unification of laws governing the activity of companies and private institutions working in GCC countries, promotion of coordination, and the protection of the national operator from competition. The explanatory note also contains an account of the different stages of preparation of the draft Law on the regulations.
Al-Harthy said the Economic Committee discussed the views of both the Majlis A’Shura and the Legal Committee and agreed with most of them.
The Ministry of Transport and Communications had recommended that the necessary measures should be taken to assure that the final version of the draft that will be forwarded to the Council of Ministers in Oman should be in conformity with GCC regulations.
The Council then discussed the proposal of the Special Committee formed to study the promotion of mining industry. Hon.Sayyid Dr. Said Sultan Hamood Al- Busaidi, Committee head said: The Sultanate is replete with various mineral resources of high economic value, which can is an important tributary of the national economy if it is better exploited.
The Government is seeking to maximize its contribution to the domestic product and adopt it as one of the five promising sectors for economic diversification in the Sultanate.
He noted that the Mineral Wealth Act promulgated by Royal Decree No. (19/2019) is an indication of the interest, which was discussed by the State Council at its eighth Regular Session of the third annual session of the sixth period, held on 3 May 2018.
At its first session of the fourth annual session of the sixth period, the Council of Oman had discussed the articles of divergence between the two Councils regarding the draft law.
Al- Busaidi said: “What distinguishes this law is that the government has set a number of objectives consistent with the standards of governance and modern legislation, which enhances the attractiveness of the sector for investment, and contributes to facilitate the procedures for obtaining and accelerating mining approvals, providing promising mining areas for investment, and other ambitious goals.
Consistent with these tireless efforts of the Government to develop the sector, and in support of it, the Council formed this Special Committee and tasked it to study the "promotion of mineral wealth ". The proposal also comes in line with the aspirations of the draft Oman Vision 2040.
The Council then discussed the proposal of Education and Research Committee to study of utilising the services of retired individuals to benefit from their expertise.
Hon.Abdullah bin Mubarak Al-Shanfari, Head of the Education and Research Committee indicated that the proposal aimed to extend the retirement age of experts and specialists to avail of their expertise in vital areas for national benefit.
He cited several justifications for the review of the extension of retirement age, which included the economic dimension, the intellectual security dimension, the legislative dimension and the procedural dimension.
He stressed that extending the retirement age would enable the State to make the most of their human resources.
Following discussions, the Council decided to submit it for further consideration by the Committee and re-submit it to the Council at its next Regular Session with the observations and comments of the members.
The Council was briefed about the Secretariat report and noted the preliminary document of Oman 2040, as well as a number of reports of the secretariat assisting the Information and Research Centre.