Strategic Vision
A society of creative individuals: proud of their identity, innovative, globally competitive, leading a decent life and enjoying sustained well-being.
Priorities under this pillar:
- Education, Learning, Scientific Research and National Capabilities
- Health
- Citizenship, Identity and National Heritage and Culture
- Well-being and Social Protection
Overview
The People and Society pillar is the human foundation upon which Vision 2040’s entire economic transformation rests. Its core argument is straightforward: no diversified, knowledge-based economy is possible without a highly educated, healthy, and socially cohesive population.
The pillar encompasses four priorities that address the full life cycle of human development — from early education through healthcare, cultural identity, and social protection.
Priority 1: Education, Learning, Scientific Research and National Capabilities
The education priority represents perhaps Vision 2040’s most ambitious transformation agenda. Its strategic direction calls for “Inclusive Education, Lifelong Learning, and Scientific Research that Lead to a Knowledge-based Society and Competitive National Talents.”
The challenge is significant: Oman’s education system, while much improved since the 1970s, still produces graduates whose skills do not consistently match labour market needs. The private sector consistently reports difficulties finding Omani nationals with the technical and professional skills required for competitive employment.
2025 progress highlights:
- Sultan Qaboos University achieved its best-ever QS World Ranking: 334th globally in 2026 rankings
- Five Omani universities now in QS World Top 500, ahead of the 3-university 2030 target
- Global Innovation Index improved from rank 79 (2022) to 69 (2025)
- National school performance evaluation system implemented across all governorates
- Vocational and technical education framework for grades 11-12 developed
Structural challenges:
- Private sector still reports skills mismatch — graduates lack practical, market-ready competencies
- Scientific research funding remains below OECD norms as a percentage of GDP
- Brain drain of talented graduates remains a concern without sufficient private sector roles
Priority 2: Health
Oman’s healthcare system is a genuine success story of the modern renaissance era — universal coverage, good primary care infrastructure, and improving clinical outcomes. Vision 2040 raises the ambition: from adequate to leading.
The strategic direction targets a “Leading Healthcare System with International Standards” with particular emphasis on technology integration, prevention, and decentralised delivery.
2025 progress highlights:
- National health policy launched
- National Omani Genome Programme established — building genomic database for personalised medicine
- 10 new health institutions opened
- First heart transplant from a brain-dead person performed in Oman
- Healthy life expectancy improving toward the 2030 target of 67 years
Priority 3: Citizenship, Identity and National Heritage and Culture
This priority addresses a challenge common to all rapidly modernising small states: how to embrace globalisation and economic transformation while preserving cultural identity and social cohesion.
Vision 2040 takes the view that Omani identity — built on a tradition of seafaring, trade, tolerance, and the frankincense route — is not at odds with modernisation but is a competitive advantage to be leveraged, particularly in cultural tourism.
2025 progress highlights:
- “Oman Youth Ship for Peace” programme included in UNESCO’s list of best practices for intangible cultural heritage preservation
- Omani manuscript “Al-Nuniya al-Kubra” by Ahmed bin Majid included in UNESCO “Memory of the World”
- Security ranking maintained in top 5 globally — a significant pillar of Omani identity and attractiveness
Priority 4: Well-being and Social Protection
The social protection priority reflects Vision 2040’s explicit commitment to ensuring that economic transformation benefits all segments of Omani society, not just urban elites or those with connections to the state.
It addresses social safety nets, housing quality, youth empowerment, women’s economic participation, sports development, and support for persons with disabilities.
2025 progress highlights:
- Social protection system expanded
- Urban neighbourhood development programmes implemented with complete road networks, services and infrastructure
- Gini coefficient tracking shows income inequality remaining relatively contained at approximately 0.29
The Pillar’s Core Challenge
The People and Society pillar faces a structural tension that Vision 2040 has not fully resolved: the speed of educational reform versus the speed of private sector job creation. Oman cannot wait for universities to produce world-class graduates before creating the jobs that would absorb them — but the jobs require skills that the current system does not reliably produce.
Breaking this chicken-and-egg dynamic requires simultaneous action on both sides: accelerating educational quality improvement and rapidly expanding private sector investment in skill-intensive industries. The upcoming years of Vision 2040 will test whether Oman can execute on both fronts simultaneously.