Abstract
With low oil prices, rolling budget deficit, and a saturated public sector in Oman, discussions about the need for “change” and “action” have become ubiquitous. They have centered on skill building, improving employee work ethic and morale, government reform, and accountability. In 2013 Sultan Qaboos, the ruler of Oman announced his support for small and medium enterprise development and entrepreneurship by creating a fund to financially support and guide entrepreneurial initiatives (e.g., start-ups). This was part of a larger strategy to diversify the economy away from fossil fuels. With the Sultan’s personal backing, an entire ecosystem made up of different actors (e.g., universities, public authorities, private training programs, tech funds) from public and private sectors have rapidly emerged in the country with the center of gravity in Muscat. This assemblage of institutions is supposed to create a society of entrepreneurs, encourage them, and coordinate their activities to boost the national economy, reduce overall government spending, and create more jobs. The desire to create an “entrepreneurial society” showcases the technostate logics of development embedded in the state planning process and entrepreneurship as the latest global economic fad.
This paper approaches Oman’s entrepreneurship policy as part of the country’s state-led developmental strategy (e.g., 5-year economic plans) and fits comfortably with its plans to build a knowledge-based economy. Like other Persian Gulf states, Oman has attempted to transform its oil-based economy into a knowledge-based one by making significant investments in higher end paired with changes in the private sector. This is done to produce the “human capital” with the right skills and mindsets for the new economy, centered on cognitive abilities and increase the dynamism of the private sector. As this paper argues, this plan is in tension with Oman’s political economy, a terrain is dominated by large private monopolies, state owned enterprises, and timid capitalists.
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