A country cannot attract investment into 43 sectors at once. Oman's National Investment Strategy narrowed its focus from 43 sectors to 8 priority sectors. I worked on that strategy as Head of Business Environment at the Oman Vision 2040 Office, from November 2021 to June 2023 (my career).
This essay explains why the cut matters and how a long list gets short. It ends with advice for anyone who sets priorities for a country, a fund or a company.
Why 43 sectors is too many
Every sector on a national list asks for the same scarce things. It needs the attention of ministers, investor roadshows, incentives and land. It also needs people who can answer an investor's questions on the same day. Spread across 43 sectors, each one gets too little to win.
Investors read a long list as "no priority". A short list tells them where the state will clear the path.
How a long list gets short
The method is simple to describe and hard to do. We tested each sector against a few questions:
- Does Oman have a real advantage here: location, resources, ports, energy, or skills?
- Is there investor demand today, not only in a forecast?
- Can the state remove the main barrier in that sector within a few years?
- Does the sector create jobs for Omanis and value that stays in the country?
A sector that fails two of these questions waits. That is the hard part: every sector on the list has a ministry, a champion and a reason to stay.
What the focus made possible
A short list lets a small team act like a large one. In 2022 Oman closed government-to-government deals with India (Jindal Shadeed), Japan (Mitsui) and China (solar, more than USD 500 million). I built the Invest in Oman centre, so an investor has one place to start.
What I would tell anyone setting priorities
The same rule works for a country, a sovereign fund and a family business:
- Write the long list first. You cannot cut what you have not named.
- Test every item against the same few questions.
- Publish the short list. A priority that nobody outside the room knows about does not move investors.
- Say no in writing. A sector that waits needs a clear reason and a date to be tested again.
I use the same method today in strategic planning at ITHCA Group, and at BHD Group when we decide which product gets the next engineer.
Related: Board KPIs that a board can actually use.