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Thursday, May 20, 2010

RAK Petroleum to resume development drilling in offshore the Sultanate of Oman.

Published: May 19, 2010
Offshore staff

RAS AL KHAIMAH, UAE -- RAK Petroleum aims to resume development drilling in block 8, offshore the Sultanate of Oman.

The company holds a 50% operated interest in the block following its acquisition of Heritage Oil’s 10% share early last year. Korea's LG International holds the remaining 50%. Two fields, Bukha and West Bukha, are under development.

Production from the West Bukha started in early February 2009 following commissioning of a newly installed platform, and by year-end was averaging 10,000 b/d of oil and 30 MMcf/d of gas.

"We believe that block 8 has additional untapped potential both in terms of proven reserves and production," said RAK CEO Bijan Mossavar-Rahmani. "After performing extensive reservoir studies and well monitoring during the year, we have applied for government approval to drill in 2010 a third well on the western side of West Bukha and a further well on Bukha."

The company also expects drilling to start shortly in the Hammamet offshore license off Tunisia, where it recently acquired a 30% stake from Canadian operator Storm Ventures International. Australia’s Cooper Energy is the other partner.

The license area, awarded in September 2005, contains two ready to drill prospects, the first of which, Fushia, could be drilled this summer. Fushia comprises four structures separated by semi-parallel faults that have been mapped on 3D seismic. Potentially, the structure could contain hundreds of millions of barrels of in-place oil, says RAK.

Published in

Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Pakistan Police realesed the passenger with batteries shoes

KARACHI — Pakistan police Tuesday released a man who was detained at Karachi airport as he tried to board a plane for the Middle East with batteries and an electrical circuit in his shoes, police said.

Faiz Mohammad, a 30-year-old civil engineer, was held on Sunday when a scanner sounded an alarm as he proceeded towards boarding a Thai Airways flight to Muscat.

Mohammad, who not carrying any explosives, told police his footwear had an inbuilt massage system.

Police and intelligence agencies questioned him extensively before clearing him of trying to commit any terror activity in the plane, Karachi's chief police investigator Niaz Khoso said.

"The joint investigation team extensively questioned and in the end found him innocent," Khoso told AFP. "The man has been released," he said.

"We also engaged our experts and people in the market who confirmed that the shoes he was wearing were for massage comfort and easily available in the market," Khoso said.

He said that as it was the first such incident "it made all of us alarmed." Karachi's Airport Security Force spokesman Mohammad Munir on Sunday called the discovery of four batteries, a circuit and an on-off button in Mohammad's shoes as "worrying".

Khoso said the detention was not a mock exercise by the airport authorities to check their security efficiency. "It was certainly not a sort of mock exercise. The problem was just that no passenger in the past had earlier been seen with such shoes," he said.

Mohammad told investigators that he was travelling to Muscat, where he had worked for a construction company, to set up his own business.

Pakistan suffers from chronic violence at the hands of Islamist militants. Bomb attacks across the country have killed 3,300 people since July 2007.

A British man, Richard Reid, tried to blow up a transatlantic jet in December 2001 with explosives hidden in his shoes.

Copyright © 2010 AFP. All rights reserved

Published in

Visit the following link when he was detained,

Wires and betteries in passenger's shoes

David Knowles
Writer

(May 10) -- Pakistani police are detaining a passenger who attempted to board a flight Sunday night in Karachi after they discovered wires and batteries in the soles of his shoes. When questioned, the man told authorities the circuitry was not a bomb component but rather part of his shoes' built-in foot massager.

Faiz Mohammad, 30, was set to travel to Oman aboard a Thai Airways flight when his shoes were placed on the X-ray machine at a security checkpoint.

"We have seen such shoes for the first time [today]," police investigator Niaz Khoso told Reuters. "To be honest, we did not know that such shoes are available. ... We have not released him yet but if he is found innocent, we will let him go for sure."

Both of Mohammad's shoes contained a small circuit that was connected to two AAA batteries, The Associated Press reported. Mohammad, a civil engineer who works for a company in Oman, said he bought the shoes in a market in Karachi and was unaware of how they were wired.

Pakistani police said that hardware similar to that found in Mohammad's soles could be used in the making of bombs, but they found no explosives on him or in his shoes.

On Dec. 22, 2001, Richard Reid tried but failed to detonate explosives hidden in the soles of his shoes with a match while on a trans-Atlantic flight. His case led to the introduction of new security measures that require passengers to remove their shoes at airports for X-ray examination.
 
2010 AOL Inc. All Rights Reserved.
 
Published in

Sunday, May 9, 2010

Laws on captured pirates

Page last updated at 12:06 GMT, Thursday, 6 May 2010 13:06 UK

Warships patrolling Indian Ocean waters off the Somali coast are enjoying greater success in capturing pirates - but the legal challenges posed by 21st Century piracy raises question on what to do with suspects after they have been caught

Isn't it the responsibility of the country whose navy apprehended the pirates to prosecute?

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea defines piracy as a universal crime and gives sovereign nations the right to seize and prosecute pirates. But whether a country wants to prosecute arrested pirates depends on its own law. Experts say that several countries do not know how to incorporate the convention into their own jurisdiction.

According to the report Fighting Piracy by Commander James Kraska and Captain Brian Wilson: "On the high seas or in any other place outside the jurisdiction of a state, such as Somalia's ungoverned territorial seas, any nation's warship may take action against piracy. Pirated ships may be boarded, the pirates can be detained and the property on board the vessel can be seized and submitted to admiralty and criminal courts. The registry or "flag" of the attacked vessel, the state of nationality of any of the victims or crew, the nationality of the on-scene warship, and, in some cases, coastal and port states, all have a valid basis for asserting jurisdiction. But it can take weeks or months to sort out these logistics and legal issues."

About 20 warships from the navies of half a dozen countries operating under US, European Union and Nato commands police the pirate-infested waters. Many have signed agreements with Kenya, enabling them to send apprehended pirates there for trial.

Why are many countries reluctant to prosecute?
Suspected pirates have been taken to the US, France and the Netherlands, among others, for prosecution. Russia is reportedly considering bringing a group of suspected pirates to Moscow for trial.

But maritime experts have pointed out that the length of time taken to bring some of those cases to trial indicates the complexities involved.

In some cases, legal arguments have centred on how long the suspects were kept in detention before either getting legal assistance or being charged - possibly violating the legal process of the countries involved.

Cyrus Mody from the International Maritime Bureau says the logistical and legal burdens involved in transporting pirate suspects to Western countries can be daunting.

"It is difficult getting the pieces together, the evidence, the witnesses. Who's going to pay for it all?

"And if a prosecution fails, the burden lies with that country. There is always the prospect that the suspected pirate might then claim asylum," he told the BBC.

In some cases, suspects are simply released after they have been disarmed because of the potential legal headaches.

Why do most of the arrested pirates end up in Kenya?

Kenya, which borders Somalia, has signed agreements with the European Union, the US, Britain, Canada, China and Denmark to prosecute and jail pirates. It has been promised financial aid in return.

There are more than 100 suspected pirates in custody, either awaiting, or already on trial. But the process is slow - lasting up to a year - and costly.

In May, Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula said Kenya was unwilling to take on any more prosecutions and was to review the agreements. He said some of the countries had failed to give adequate financial support to Kenya's strained justice system.

Mr Wetangula said a key problem was what would happen to the pirates after their jail terms were up.

What happens to the others?

Nato, Russia and India, among others, have not signed an agreement with Kenya and so their navies need to determine whether or not to bring the pirates home for trial or look for another Gulf of Aden littoral state to prosecute. This has proved difficult.

According to reports, the Indian Ocean island nation of the Seychelles is emerging as the second regional centre for trying pirates seized by EU naval units. Working with the UN, the country recently amended its criminal code to enable it to prosecute pirates under universal jurisdiction.

The EU has also opened negotiations with other countries in the region, including South Africa and Tanzania, in the hope of reaching agreements enabling the prosecution of suspected pirates.

What about setting up an international court?

In April, the United Nations Security Council adopted a Russian proposal to consider the creation of a new court to deal with piracy. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon will be asked to report within three months on options for "a regional tribunal or an international tribunal and corresponding imprisonment arrangements".

Some experts have argued, however, that this option would be costly and judicially cumbersome. There is still the issue of where convicted pirates would be held.

Published in

Thursday, May 6, 2010

UAE lifted ravel restrictions on Kenyans

Michael Onyiego

Nairobi
 
The United Arab Emirates has lifted stringent travel restrictions that require all Kenyans entering the country to possess a university degree.

In a news conference at Kenya's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Kenyan Foreign Minister Moses Wetangula announced that Emirati officials had agreed to lift the restrictions after diplomatic talks last week in Dubai.

The restriction was initially imposed after an error made by Kenyan immigration officials, who deported four members of Dubai's royal family last month.

The four individuals were detained for lacking proper entry visas in Mombasa, a city on the Kenyan coast. Kenyan authorities then accused the Emiratis of being suspected terrorists and interrogated them for hours before returning them to Dubai.

More than 37,000 Kenyans live and work in the United Arab Emirates, the majority employed in the construction and hospitality industries.

According to Foreign Minister Wetangula, the restriction was also aimed at the growing amount of business being done by Kenyan's in the country.

"It is one of those soft barriers that countries put as gates to entering into their countries, but this was in my estimation a bit overstretched," said Moses Wetangula. "Because if you go to the United Arab Emirates many of our nationals are there as business people. You go to buy a car, to buy tiles, whatever you want to buy. What you need is money not a degree. And I think we have agreed with our friends that we will go back to the status quo, and that condition has been rescinded."

The retaliatory restriction required all Kenyans entering the United Arab Emirates to present proof of higher education in order to obtain a visa. Many Kenyans working in the country expressed fears they would be deported when they applied to renew their work visas.

The brief diplomatic dispute proved a temporary setback to the increasingly strong ties between the two nations. Kenya engages in $1.3 billion worth of trade annually with the United Arab Emirates, and Kenyans working in the country send home an estimated $10 million in remittances each year, the bulk of which comes from Dubai.

Published in

Tuesday, May 4, 2010

RNA appears to play a big role in the development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Contact: Anita Srikameswaran
SrikamAV@upmc.edu
412-578-9193
Public release date: 29-Apr-2010

 
PITTSBURGH, April 29 – A small piece of RNA appears to play a big role in the development of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), according to lung disease researchers at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Their study, which is the first to examine microRNAs in the disease, is available online in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

MicroRNAs are short strands of genetic material that are involved in regulating the expression, or activity, of genes, explained senior author Naftali Kaminski, M.D., associate professor of medicine, computational biology and pathology, and director of the Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Center for Interstitial Lung Diseases at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. They are a new family of RNA molecules that are thought to be factors in embryonic development, multiple cancers and chronic heart failure.

"Our research now indicates that microRNA changes also contribute to IPF," Dr. Kaminski said. "We have identified an entirely new molecular mechanism for the disease, which gives us new ideas about how to treat it."

The researchers assessed microRNA profiles in samples of healthy lung tissue and samples of tissue affected by IPF, which is a chronic, progressive and usually lethal disease of lung scarring that affects more than 100,000 Americans and leads to 15,000 deaths annually.

"Ten percent of the microRNAs were different between IPF and control lungs," said Kusum Pandit, Ph.D., the study's lead author and a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Kaminski's lab. "The changes were very impressive."

The researchers particularly noted a diminished amount of a microRNA called let-7d and examined it more closely. They found almost no expression of let-7d in the fibrotic, or scarred, areas of 40 IPF lung samples, whereas it was abundant in 20 healthy samples used for comparison. Further experimentation showed them that let-7d is inhibited by the cytokine TGF-beta, a signaling protein that promotes the development of fibrosis through several biological pathways.

In another experiment, the researchers made an antagonist that inhibits let-7d and administered it to several mice through their windpipes for a few days. When examined soon after, the lungs of the mice looked very much like what is seen in patients with early lung fibrosis.

"These results suggest that by increasing let-7d in the lung, we may be able to slow down or even prevent lung fibrosis," Dr. Kaminski said. "Our next challenge is to develop methods that will allow us to safely do that so we can test its therapeutic value."

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Co-authors include several other researchers from the Simmons Center, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the Graduate School of Public Health; Democritus University of Thrace and University Hospital of Alexandroupolis, Greece; Instituto Nacional de Enfermedades Respiratorias, Mexico; Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Mexico; and Comprehensive Pneumonology Center, Germany.

The study was funded by grants from the National Institutes of Health, the Dorothy P. and Richard P. Simmons Endowed Chair for Pulmonary Research and Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico.

About the the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

As one of the nation's leading academic centers for biomedical research, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine integrates advanced technology with basic science across a broad range of disciplines in a continuous quest to harness the power of new knowledge and improve the human condition. Driven mainly by the School of Medicine and its affiliates, Pitt has ranked among the top 10 recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health since 1997 and now ranks fifth in the nation, according to preliminary data for fiscal year 2008. Likewise, the School of Medicine is equally committed to advancing the quality and strength of its medical and graduate education programs, for which it is recognized as an innovative leader, and to training highly skilled, compassionate clinicians and creative scientists well-equipped to engage in world-class research. The School of Medicine is the academic partner of UPMC, which has collaborated with the University to raise the standard of medical excellence in Pittsburgh and to position health care as a driving force behind the region's economy. For more information about the School of Medicine, see http://www.medschool.pitt.edu/

Published in

الإمارات تؤكد أن الجزر المتنازع عليها في الخليج محتلة من إيران

جددت الإمارات العربية المتحدة تأكيدها أن الجزر الثلاث المتنازع عليها في الخليج العربي "محتلة" من قبل طهران, منتقدة تصريحات رسمية إيرانية قللت من شأن الخلاف بشأنها.

وقال مسؤول في الخارجية الإماراتية إن "الجانب الإيراني لا يريد أن يفهم. ليس هناك سوء تفاهم بيننا بل احتلال حقيقي".

أضاف المسؤول أنه "ليس هناك أرض محتلة أكثر قدسية من أرض محتلة أخرى, الاحتلال هو احتلال أكان من قبل إسرائيل أو إيران أو أي دولة أخرى".

وجدد عرض بلاده لإجراء محادثات بشأن المشكلة قائلا "إذا كان الإيرانيون يريدون إجراء مفاوضات بشأن الجزر المحتلة, فهذا ما نطالب به منذ عقود".

سوء تفاهم

وجاء هذا الموقف الرسمي, ردا على تصريحات للمتحدث باسم الخارجية الإيرانية محمد علي حسيني الأحد, رفض فيها وساطة روسية في قضية الجزر الثلاث.

وقال حسيني إن "العلاقات بين إيران والإمارات العربية المتحدة في أفضل مستوى لها, وإذا كان هناك سوء تفاهم فإنه يمكن حله عبر مباحثات ثنائية دون الحاجة إلى تدخل أطراف أخرى".

وكان المتحدث الإيراني يعقب على طلب تقدمت به الإمارات أثناء زيارة وفد من المجلس الوطني الاتحادي لموسكو الأسبوع الماضي, يقضي بأن تقنع روسيا إيران ببحث وضع الجزر الثلاث.

وكانت إيران احتلت جزر طنب الكبرى وطنب الصغرى وأبو موسى التي تقع قرب مضيق هرمز بعد رحيل القوات البريطانية من الخليج عام 1971. ورفضت طهران مرارا إحالة الخلاف إلى محكمة العدل الدولية في لاهاي.

منقول من

Monday, May 3, 2010

A diplomatic row between Kenya and UAE

Nairobi Star (Nairobi)
17 April 2010

Nairobi — The deportation of four senior members of the United Arab Emirates government has sparked a serious diplomatic row between Kenya and UAE.

The UAE has for the last two weeks denied many Kenyans including a cabinet minister, MPs and business people entry visas to Dubai on flimsy grounds.

Hundreds of Kenyan traders flock to Dubai to buy electronics, textiles, household goods, mobile phones and industrial products which are available at fair prices since it is a free port.

Planning Minister Wycliffe Oparanya and his personal assistant were last week denied entry into Dubai for several hours - even though the minister holds a diplomatic passport.

It took the intervention of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nairobi for Oparanya who was travelling back from New York to be allowed in.

Members of Parliament's Committee on Implementation, which is chaired by Kigumo MP Jamleck Kamau, were denied visas in Nairobi last week but were allowed in when they applied on arrival at Dubai International Airport.

"They denied us visas when we applied in Nairobi but when we arrived in Dubai on Thursday they issued them to us. We were told that the UAE was very upset because of some arrests that were made so they decided to retaliate by denying Kenyans visas," said joint Government chief whip Jakoyo Midiwo who was in the delegation.

The Star learnt yesterday that a group of Kenyans who had been recruited by Emirates Airline have been denied work permits. It is not clear how much the row has affacted the 40,000 Kenyans working in the United Arab Emirates, especially those in Dubai.

Agents handling visa applications for Dubai sent out text messages yesterday to some of their clients saying the Dubai Immigration office had temporarily stopped issuing visas to Kenyans.

"Dear client. Please note Dubai visas have been halted by Dubai Immigration office in Dubai. Only persons booking a package inclusive of hotel flights and transfers are getting the Visa. This is booked at least two weeks in advance, once the situation gets back to normal we will certainly advice," said one agent.

Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula and Permanent Secretary Mwangi Thuita confirmed yesterday that there was a serious problem between Kenya and UAE but said it was being resolved.

"I'm personally heading to the United Arab Emirates for a series of meetings with senior government officials to resolve the issue next week," said the minister.

Wetangula said the UAE was retaliating for the arrest of its government officials in Mombasa. A senior official from the UAE met Wetangula a few days ago in Nairobi to discuss the issue and the two agreed that a joint commission between the two countries will help resolve the matter.

He even extended an invitation for President Kibaki to visit UAE this year and announced that they will open an Embassy in Kenya by September as away of improving relations."Some of those people arrested here on suspicion of being terrorists were senior police officers in Dubai and so the UAE was very upset," said Wetangula yesterday.

Three weeks ago police in Mombasa arrested four people they claimed were terror suspects. The four wereheld at Moi International Airport but Coast PPO Leo Nyongesa said they were not on the international list of terror suspects.

The four had been in the country for a week on holiday before flying down to Mombasa where they were held and questioned for hours by Anti-Terrorism Police Unit. They were later flown to Nairobi then deported to Dubai.

It is understood that some of them are from one of the powerful royal families in Dubai. "The moment they arrived here, the ministry issued instructions that Kenyans be denied visas and a set of new rules and qualifications was issued. They include a provision that one must hold a degree from a recognised university," said an official in UAE's Ministry of Immigiration.

Immigrations minister Otieno Kajwang yesterday accused the police of acting beyond their powers by deporting the four. According to the law, only the Minister for Immigration can sign deportation orders for the police to enforce.

"I think after what happened with Fazul (most wanted terror suspect), the police must have been over-enthusiastic and acted outside the law." Speaking to the Star on the phone from Kinango, where he accompanied Prime Minister Raila Odinga on a Yes campaign rally, Kajwang said that he had decided to maintain his cool hoping the matter will be resolved diplomatically.

However the minister said that he had not been informed that some Kenyans had been denied visas to Dubai. "You are the first one to inquire about the denial of visas and let me inquire then get back to you," the minister said.

A businessman who frequently flies to Dubai said he was last week informed that issuance of visas had been suspended and even those with valid visas were not being issued with tickets by Emirates Airline.

"I was turned away when I went to the Emirates offices at View Park Towers to book a ticket for my flight," said Martin Kilach who imports assorted items from Dubai. He later sent his wife to apply for a visa just to be sure that the order was not selective and she too was turned away. Kilach said that he contacted several of his business colleagues who were scheduled to travel in the past two weeks and they too confirmed the same.

Published in

Tourists from UAE with certain job categories cannot enter Oman

Essam al Ghalib
ealghalib@thenational.ae
Last Updated: May 02. 2010 1:21PM UAE / May 2. 2010 9:21AM GMT

AL AIN // Residents are being turned away from border crossings between the UAE and Oman because of the type of job they have.


Officials at crossings are enforcing a long-standing agreement between the countries that only expatriates who have what are considered professional occupations can pass into Oman from the UAE without having to apply for a visa.

According to one Omani immigration officer, teachers, doctors, lawyers anyone who has a professional occupation are free to travel into Oman. However, those who do other jobs, such as in the service industry, construction or sales, would not be allowed

The rule, which is to be implemented at all checkpoints, was previously in effect, but border officials only began enforcing it this year, said Captain Ahmad al Shamsi, an Emirati official at the Hilli checkpoint, which links Al Ain with Buraimi and is for non-GCC citizens.

One resident, Colin Davids, was turned away from the checkpoint when he attempted to cross into Buraimi for a camping trip with friends. An immigration agent refused to let him out of the UAE and into Oman.

“He wouldn’t tell me why, but referred me to the visa officer in charge, instead,” said Mr Davids, 27, who had made the crossing numerous times before. “I went inside to ask why and was shocked when he told me I had what he called a ‘low job’.”

Mr Davids works at the Al Ain Rotana hotel as a barman at Moodz nightclub. The job description on his visa says he is a waiter.


“The immigration officer told me that there was a list of occupations that were not free to travel and that mine was too low down to allow me across the border into Oman,” Mr Davids said.

An official in the consular section of the UAE Embassy in Muscat confirmed the agreement between Oman and the Emirates.

"People with certain occupations cannot leave the UAE and people with certain occupations cannot enter Oman,” she said. “There is an agreement between the two countries that is being adhered to.”

People with affected occupations who want to visit Oman need to apply for a visa at the Omani Embassy in Abu Dhabi, she said.

Khaled Hardan, an official at the Omani embassy in Abu Dhabi, confirmed that a prospective visitor’s occupation is a factor considered when issuing a visa, adding that regulations had become more stringent throughout the GCC recently, and not just in Oman.

As for Mr Davids and others like him, Mr Hardan said: “If he would like a visitor’s visa, he can come to the Omani embassy in Abu Dhabi and apply for one.”

An Omani immigration officer, who asked not to be named, said in the past many people would leave the UAE and enter Oman from Hilli. They would then stay and work illegally in Buraimi.

“In the case of the Hilli border crossing into Buraimi, there isn’t an official Omani checkpoint for 40km down the road to Muscat,” he said. “For people with professional jobs, it would be harder for them to find work illegally in Buraimi, whereas a carpenter can find odd jobs to do here and there.”

Kathryn Holbrook, a 29-year-old geography teacher at Al Ain English School, who was with Mr Davids when he tried to cross, was stunned to learn that he could not.

“My occupation is listed as a teacher so I was told I could cross into Oman, but not Colin,” she said. “I complained to people at the border who told me there was a new list that came out this year.”

Days after Mr Davids’s experience, Arianne Galez, 31, from the Philippines, stood in front of a visa officer in disbelief. After making regular trips to visit her family, who were expecting her, she was suddenly being denied.

The officer explained to Ms Galez that certain occupations, including hers – a receptionist at a dental clinic – were not considered professional. “My cousin and sister work in Sohar,” Ms Galez said. “I don’t know when I am going to see them again.”

Published in
http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100502/NATIONAL/705019880/1010

Sunday, May 2, 2010

سلطنة عمان بيئة آمنة للإستثمار

حمود بن علي الطوقي
صحفي عماني


عندما يأتي الحديث عن السلطنة في أي محفل من المحافل يتصدر الحوار عن الأوضاع الأمنية المستقرة التي تتمتع بها بلادنا والحمد الله , هذه الصفة اللصيقة لعمان وقيادتها عززت من مكانة السلطنة في المنظومة العالمية وأصبحت عمان سمة بارزة يشار إليها كبيئة اقتصادية آمنة , ولكي أسوق دليلا على صدق ما أقول حول البيئة الآمنة للسلطنة , ما أكده فخامة الرئيس التركي عبدالله جول في افتتاحه منتدى الأعمال العماني التركي في زيارته التي قام بها للسلطنة الشهر الماضي.

الرئيس جول قالها صراحة : " إن الاستقرار والبيئة الآمنة عامل مهم لتطوير الاقتصاد وتتضح هذه الصفة جليا في السلطنة وهي عامل مهم لتطوير الاقتصاد ".

إن المراقبين والمحللين والمهتمين بالشأن الاقتصادي يفسرون هذه العبارة واقصد هنا عبارة الرئيس جول بأن السلطنة كبلد يتمتع بالاستقرار الأمني بيئة جاذبة للاستثمارات الأجنبية بكل أشكالها وأحجامها , والمتابع للبيئة الاستثمارية العمانية يلاحظ مدى ثقة الاستثمارات العالمية في أن يكون لها موطئ قدم في السلطنة ولعل الموقع الاستراتيجي للسلطنة أمر آخر يجعل من السلطنة محطة مهمة للشركات العالمية والشركات المتعددة الجنسيات .

حقيقة الأمر أن السلطنة تسعى دائما إلى تقديم الحوافز والتسهيلات للمستثمرين الأجانب الجادين وتتمثل هذه الحوافز في تخفيض الإعفاءات من الرسوم والضرائب وتقديم التسهيلات المصرفية وتوفير الكوادر الوطنية المدربة .

إن النظرة العمانية لتعزيز العلاقات الاستثمارية بين الشركات المحلية والأجنبية تتمثل في الدعوة الكريمة لمولانا حضرة صاحب الجلالة السلطان قابوس بن سعيد المعظم - حفظه الله - ففي خطابه الأخير أمام مجلس عمان دعا النطق السامي المستثمرين لبذل المزيد من الجهد من أجل المشاركة الفعالة في العجلة التنموية في البلاد, كما أن القوانين والتشريعات العمانية تعطي مميزات جيدة لمن يطرق الباب بغرض الاستفادة من المميزات التي حددتها القوانين في شأن الاستثمار الأجنبي والمحلي على حد سواء , وإذا كانت الفرصة مواتية لتحفيز الاستثمار الأجنبي فإن الدعوة لأن تكون الشراكة بين الشركات العمانية ونظيراتها الأجنبية أكثر مطلبا وعلى المستثمرين العمانيين من أصحاب رؤوس الأموال البحث عن شركاء استراتيجيين لتوجيه هذه الاستثمارات من أجل خدمة البلاد .
 
إن حكومة السلطنة لم تقصر في تقديم المميزات والتسهيلات وبناء البنية الأساسية اللازمة التي تهيئ الفرصة أمام المستثمرين في أن تكون انطلاقتهم قوية , فكما قال جلالته - حفظه الله - : " إن مشروعات التنمية الشاملة ماضية في طريقها المرسوم في مختلف أرجاء البلاد خاصة في مجالات البنية الأساسية والصناعة والسياحة، وإذا كانت الدولة هي التي تقوم بمعظم هذه المشروعات فإننا ندعو المستثمرين من مواطنين وأجانب إلى المشاركة فيها بما يحقق الفائدة للجميع، وسوف يجد هؤلاء كل التسهيلات اللازمة".

إن هذه الدعوة وبعد مضي 40 سنة من عمر النهضة هي استقراء للخريطة الاقتصادية التي شملت كل الميادين وطالت المشاريع التنموية كل شبر من عماننا الغالية , ويتطلب من القائمين ترجمة هذه التوجهات وتقديم المزيد من التسهيلات أمام المستثمرين عمانيين كانوا أم أجانب .

فالاستثمارات من شأنها أن تفتح آفاقا أوسع أمام القطاع الخاص لتحقيق شراكة حقيقية مع القطاع العام , وهذه الشراكة مطلوبة للمحافظة على ما تحقق ورسم أهداف جوهرية للمستقبل يشترك فيها الجميع من اجل المنفعة العامة .

الورقة الأخيرة: نصيحة اعمل على أن يحبك الناس عندما تغادر منصبك كما يحبونك عندما تتسلمه

منشورة في جريدة الرؤية العمانية في 27 أبريل 2010

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