Ringing in the new year with hope, strength and determination

People in Oman welcome the new year with good wishes and hope to overcome the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021.

Dr Fatima Al Yaqubi, Head of the Tuberculosis and Acute Respiratory Diseases Department at the Infectious Diseases Department
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the world witnessed health, social and economic repercussions that affected all the sectors of the world. We hope peace will prevail and the earth will regain its vitality and the countries of the world will begin to restore diligent work in their activities while adhering to the precautionary measures.

I also hope that the international community will work together to reach an end to this situation through universal coverage of the COVID-19 vaccine. On local level, my aspirations are for the people to join hands in overcoming this crisis and for the different sectors and individuals  to study what happened in 2020, and learn from the lessons in order to develop plans that help us overcome obstacles and achieve goals. On personal level, I intend to benefit from the lessons that the pandemic taught me to reach my life and work goals.

Mohammed Al Mamari, Director of Social Development in Muscat
At the global level, we are looking forward to the end of the Corona epidemic and the end of the conflict in the Middle East region. At the national level, we are looking forward to the completion of the digital transformation system and the development of dialogue methods in the work environment and in parliamentary councils, and for the government to end the file of job seekers, get out of the tax crisis, improve the level of income and livelihood of citizens, diversify sources of income and the national economy. We look forward to issuing a new labour law to replace the current civil service law and open the door for promotions.

On personal level, I will focus on studies such as learning a new language, increasing the rate of reading, obtaining a doctorate and following a healthy lifestyle through exercise and healthy nutrition and creating a local tourist schedule for the most important tourist attractions in the Sultanate and participate in volunteer work to promote social solidarity and charitable work.

Hafiz M. Shoaib Nawaz, Lecturer, Media Studies Department in Al Bayyan College
I always believe in planning for the future because this is one of the amazing abilities gifted by the Almighty Allah to humans. But 2020 has taught me something so powerful that I had to skip this fundamental aspect of life. Rather than just planning, I have decided to enjoy the present moment and to be more kind. I want to be thankful for all the blessings. I wish and pray for all, especially the Omani people. May more prosperity, happiness and blessings be your way in this new year. Love you Oman!

Ali Hassan Suleiman, CEO of Sandan Development Company
The aspirations of the year 2021 may be different from the aspirations of the previous years after what the world went through in the past year in terms of global, regional and local events that changed many convictions, ideas and attitudes and also had a great role in looking and focusing on many details in aspects of public life and working life.

On a personal level, I see that there are many opportunities and challenges that may exist in the new year, and we must be very keen to work calmly and intelligently in dealing with them. We must also be flexible enough to deal with all the data and variables, and it will be the skill of flexibility and problem-solving and challenges will be one of the most important skills that must accompany us in the new year. The ability to create solutions continuously, high concentration and not being distracted in many things will make us stronger and more focused in the current year’s journey with clarity of goals and how to achieve them with all success.

On  a practical level, we are very encouraged by the current year under the wise leadership of His Majesty Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik,  and the clarity of the features of Oman 2040 vision which focus on the economic sector and diversifying its sources.
In the new year we will work with dedication and sincerity and multiply the efforts and will continue the march and the hard work that we have done in the past years.  In many of the projects that we are working on, such as the Sandan Industrial City Project, the Myriad Muscat Project and Al Seef Residential Complex Project, we will focus heavily on Sandan Industrial City as it is the first integrated industrial city in the Sultanate of Oman that is run by the private sector. We will focus our efforts in attracting more businesses and diversified commercial activities of the city and attracting investors from outside the Sultanate to the city of Sandan in order to diversify industries and products and bring them to be manufactured in the Sultanate. And we will also work on the many new projects that will soon see the light and will complement the activities of the company “Sandan Development” through which we always strive to support the economic development wheel in the country and create business opportunities.

I would like to thank my team at the company and wish them more effort, giving and doubling the work, and we will all work to achieve all the goals and visions that we are working on.

Mohammed Al Shariqi, Tour guide, Jabal Akhdar
We are looking forward to the government to support the citizens to invest in the country, as well as to facilitate the necessary procedures to obtain the necessary permits. We also hope to develop the tourism sector, increase interest in this area, support tourist guides and facilitate procedures for them.

Haitham Ba Omar, Omani photographer
In the new year, I expect, God willing, that good will prevail over the Sultanate under the leadership of His Majesty the Sultan, especially after the decisions recently taken by the government for the sake of financial balance. Globally, I do not expect that the world will return to what it was before, but rather that it will be better and faster, especially since Corona taught us a lot during in 2020.

Abdul Latif bin Rashid Al Maamari, Winner of the Youth Excellence Award in media
In 2021, we seek many hopes and ambitions that we are working to achieve. We are starting this year with determination and strength in order to work to provide added value in the youth sector that has a prominent role in building societies and nations. We have to work to develop ourselves, refine our skills and develop our sense of initiative to create solutions and alternatives for all the challenges that we will face in the current year and the coming years. This is in addition to our tireless work and spreading the spirit of teamwork and discipline to increase the productive capacities of the team.

On the general level, there are many opportunities and challenges that we will face in the coming period, but we will be able to overcome them with the arms of our ambitious youth, as well as work to build the capacities of the youth and empower them with knowledge and skill to be leaders capable of creating the future. The work will be collective and complementary between individuals, institutions and bodies with competence to focus. All efforts are to empower the Omani people with knowledge, skill, culture and capability to lead Oman’s future.

Our aspirations are great and our ambitions are high under the wise leadership of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, as well as the beginning of Oman 2040 Vision, which focuses heavily on building and empowering the capabilities of Omani people.
On a personal level, I will work on designing and implementing three programmes in the field of social innovation targeting the youth, and they will have a great role in empowering and building the capabilities and skills of the youth. I will also have a lot of participation at the local and external level to work on refining and developing the personal experience and then sharing the experience as much as possible with young people in the Sultanate.

I look forward to the new year to be a year of recovery for what we have gone through in the past year. It will also be a year of recovery in many sectors for the youth to create opportunities and work on them. It will help the youth to gain skills with continuous learning and going through the experiences will teach them a lot, and be a role model.

Usha Santhosh, Indian expatriate living in Oman since 1987
The year 2021, must celebrate the indomitable human spirit and give solace to all. The rollercoaster 2020 ended with the arrival of the much-awaited 2021 and was welcomed with hope and positivity. The transition needs immense commitment  to ensure that during 2021 we shall put the once-in-a-lifetime lessons to proper use and claim 2021 as our year. The shift has to start with oneself and involve the whole world. This needs immense consciousness, faith, patience, cooperation, acceptance and tolerance. I hope the year 2021 will cut the travel barriers, become more senior citizen friendly, create new  employment opportunities.