New Kuwait Airways A320 has arrived

While this discussion is two days old and I am not sure if you’ll even read this, allow me to tell you a little more, and bring you up to date about my “primitive” country.

For your information, in response to some of what you wrote:

– Regarding female labor participation, I’ve seen various statistics. For Oman I’ve seen as low as 24% and as high as 35%. Most accurately, it’s probably around 30%. However, if you look at the public sector women are actually 46% of the workforce. The low overall percentage is due to their low acceptance of private sector jobs due to the longer hours, lower pay, etc. It depends on the industry. In banking, for example, female employment rates are growing much faster than men. At current rates, there will be more women working in banks than men by 2020. They’re still lagging in leadership positions, with no female bank CEOs as yet though two banks had women chairing their boards. In Kuwait, female labor participation is 44%. FYI, the lowest female participation rate for the gulf is Saudi Arabia at 20% and even Bahrain, which most of us would assume to be more progressive, has a rate of only 32%. In other words, all of us aren’t doing that well on female participation. One thing to take note of is that the Oman does not guarantee jobs for all Omanis, unlike Kuwait. So the Omani women who are in the labor force all work. There is no veiled unemployment in Oman.

Also, for your knowledge, Oman gave women the right to vote before Kuwait, and the first Omani female parliament members won their sets long before Kuwait. Oman also had female ministers and ambassadors long before Kuwait. Not bad for a backwards, primitive, old fashioned and ultra conservative country.

– The fertility rate for Omani women is approx 3 children. It has been at that rate for a decade. Oman has been incredibly successful at educating women about family planning.

– Black abayas aren’t traditional Omani dress and they have only become common in the past two decades. Before that you’d rarely see an Omani woman wear it. Traditional Omani women’s clothing are extremely colorful and it’s a shame that so many women have chosen to wear black abayas just because it makes their lives easier than having to plan their wardrobes.

– Lawatia, Baluchis, and yes even Hindus are Omanis. These ethnic groups have been in Oman for hundreds of years. Lawatia have been in Oman since the 1600’s (before Kuwait was even a country). Hindus merchants have been in Oman since the mid 1800’s. They are now Omani.

– What exactly is a “local merchant class” and is it a good thing to have one?

– ” Local human resources and local human capital is sustainability.” Totally agree with you, and therefore Oman is more sustainable than Kuwait because Omanis work all jobs, unlike Kuwait. Omanis work as drivers, cooks and waiters in restaurants, laborers, etc. They have a work ethic. That’s sustainability.

– Oman has the lowest literacy rate in the gulf? Maybe. But Oman is a country that had only 3 schools in 1970 and yet has dropped illiteracy to 14% by 2010, and the vast majority of the illiterate are now older women who never went to school. Oman still has a ways to go. But I’d say it’s done a good job.

– How many Omani have had western education? Thousands are sent abroad every year, by a country who’s education budget is probably a fraction of Kuwait’s.

– Oman accepts development aid from Kuwait. True. We do. And we’re thankful. Oman is roughly 18 times the size of Kuwait with triple its population and about a quarter of its income. When you speak of development in Kuwait you’re basically talking about developing one city. In Oman, development is spread across 300,000 square kilometers. Considering Oman’s minuscule budget, the development has been spectacular. Oman doesn’t have skyscrapers (nor does it need them). Oman is not Dubai, and doesn’t aspire to be. We build what we need. And more importantly, we don’t waste our time looking at others’ achievements while not doing anything ourselves.

When oil prices shot over $100 ten years ago, Oman started building and hasn’t stopped. New highways, airports, refineries, petrochemical complexes, new airline, hotels, convention center, the railway project is starting soon. The new port in Duqm is one of the biggest in the world and its surrounding special economic zone is actually bigger in size than the entire of Singapore. And this is all from a country that produces less than a million barrels of oil a day with one of the highest oil production costs in the world (excluding fracking).

So please call us primitive or whatever you want. Go ahead and make up bogus stories about women not being allowed to wear jeans if you want. It won’t lessen anything of Oman’s achievements.