The news from the employment front is highly encouraging. Between July 14 and 18, the private sector alone employed 1,542 citizens, according to the weekly employment index of the Manpower Ministry. And this proves that the private sector is shouldering its part of the responsibility of giving jobs to the youth.

The private sector owes a lot to the nation as the government has done a lot to encourage it in a number of ways. This was to ensure that it played a dominant role in the process of the nation’s development. Ever since the beginning of the Blessed Renaissance, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said has been stressing on the role of the private sector in every sphere – from education and health to industries. That’s why there is no dearth of schools, colleges, other kinds of educational institutions, clinics, hospitals and a variety of industries in the private sector. This policy was enunciated for another reason, which was that the public sector alone could not shoulder the enormous responsibility of nation-building. This responsibility had to be divided and the private sector was asked to shoulder a part of it. And there’s little doubt that the private sector has played its role admirably so far. But the fact is that it still has to do more to attract the youth by giving more salaries and perks that are on par with those offered by the public sector. Only then will the best of professionals and others flock to it for jobs.

Last year, when His Majesty the Sultan ordered 50,000 jobs for the youth, the private sector shouldered its part of the responsibility. And this year’s budget has envisaged 30,000 jobs for citizens and the private sector is set to absorb a lot of them. From the statistics that are being regularly released to the media, it seems like this huge target will be met. In future too, the private sector will have to act with alacrity. With the government giving maximum encouragement to education and with thousands of Omani youth scheduled to graduate from various educational institutions in the coming years, the private sector has the task of providing them with jobs and this, no doubt, is a huge task.

At the moment, the main thrust is on the Omanisation of jobs. The government has realised that the task of nation-building must be entrusted to citizens, who will shoulder their responsibilities with diligence and loyalty. It knows that the future of Oman depends solely on Omanis, who have already done a lot for the country and are ready to make more sacrifices to ensure that the nation joins the ranks of developed nations. As a result, the Sultanate is bound become a showpiece of progress and prosperity in the years to come.