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Significance
The sultan this month paid his first foreign visit to Saudi Arabia, establishing institutions for ongoing cooperation. Under the previous ruler, Muscat was wary of Riyadh’s dominant influence in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). However, both the regional environment and Oman’s economic situation are now in a state of flux.
Impacts
New Saudi investment in Oman would likely focus on the tourism and industrial sectors.
Higher oil prices will provide only a temporary reprieve for Muscat’s structural economic problems.
Omani interactions with the United Arab Emirates could become more fraught.
Keywords:
Oman,
ME/NAF,
Gulf states,
Saudi Arabia,
Iran,
Israel,
United Arab Emirates,
Yemen,
international relations,
foreign investment,
foreign policy,
talks,
economy
© Oxford Analytica 2021. All rights reserved. This content contains general information about geopolitical, macroeconomic and social developments or (where stated) other matters. It does not contain advice or recommendations that may be relied on. Where links to external websites are provided, this does not indicate that Oxford Analytica or Emerald agree with, endorse or have checked for accuracy the contents of said sites.
2021
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