Oman is one of the six gulf cooperation country in the Middle East. It shares its borders with United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia and Yemen. Most of Oman’s populations are concentrated on the north and the eastern coastal region of the sultanate. The capital of Oman, Muscat is currently the only developed commercial centre in the country. 

Total Bilateral trade in 2007 was more than S$570 million. Bilateral trade has primarily been driven by the exchange in petroleum related products and the increase in the value of these products has widened the trade imbalance between the two countries. Top five imports from Oman are petroleum and products, lime cement stone, heating and cooling equipment, and sand and gravel.

Singapore’s exports to Oman in 2007 stand at S$188 million. Export increased modestly from S$158 million in the previous year. Our top five exports to Oman include industrial machinery, road vehicles, general industrial machinery, electrical machinery, pumps and bearings.
 

The leadership of Oman is well aware that the sultanate is excessively dependent on oil and seeks to diversify away from its dwindling oil supply (which is small compared to its neighbours) into the following sectors where concrete and concise plans have been implemented since.

• Gas and downstream petrochemical
• Tourism and Hospitality
• Infocomms Technology and Information Technology
• Services (such as logistics, port management and others)

The Sultanate also seeks to reduce its dependency on foreign labour in order to create more jobs (to reduce unemployment) for native Omanis. As such, Sultan Qaboos has introduced the “Omanisation” strategy that involves a decree that requires employers to hire only Omanis in selected vocations.

The key sectors of the economy are:

1) Oil and Gas: Oil revenues make up almost 40% of Oman's total GDP and over 60% of export earnings, but the government expects this figure to fall. Oman has 5.5 billion barrels of proven reserves—ample resources—but fields are now reaching maturity and the prospect of further finds is waning. The natural gas sector is making spectacular progress, encouraged by the government's economic diversification drive and a wide-scale exploration and development effort. The continued focus on gas is expected to boost production and reserves, although the country is also looking at imports as a backstop to ensure the growth of its gas-based industrialization projects.ation projects.

2) Industry: Private domestic and foreign investment in the non-oil sector is being encouraged, along with reductions in government spending and privatization. Manufacturing (including LNG) accounted 18% of GDP in 2007 while construction's share stood at 3%.

3) Agriculture: Agriculture offers minimal room for development, given the country's poor climatic and geographic conditions; in 2007, it accounted for only 1% of total GDP. The value of agricultural output has grown from 154 million Omani rials in 2001 to 205 million rials in 2007. Oman's main agricultural export is fish. The government's Vision-2020 economic plan projects the shares of agriculture and fishing in GDP at 3% and 2%, respectively.