Minister of Communications and Information Technology Eng. Abdullah Bin Amer Al-Sawaha met Wednesday in Riyadh with a delegation from the Sultanate of Oman headed by Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology Eng. Said Hamoud Al-Maawali and Oman Ambassador Sayyid Faisal Bin Turki Al Said. During the meeting, the two sides discussed strengthening cooperation between the two countries in digital economy, e-government, cybersecurity, postal sector and innovation, whereas Saudi Arabia has strengthened its presence in these fields and achieved advanced ranks at the world level due to the ambitious Saudi Vision 2030. The Minister of Communications and Information Technology and Omani Minister of Transport, Communications and Information Technology signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in the fields of communications and information technology as well as the postal sector in order to strengthen cooperation and achieve development, thereby benefiting the two countries. According to the MoU, the two sides will work on enhancing bilateral communication, exchanging information in the field of communications as well as information technology and its application to develop the digital economy. This is in addition to fostering cooperation in a number of areas, including digital transformation of government and the communications infrastructure development, capacity building, joint investment in the postal sector, governance of communications, information technology and tech companies. On the sidelines of the meeting, the two ministers launched the Saudi-Omani Digital Skills Initiative. The initiative aims at exchanging best practices and expertise, participating in meetings and joint working sessions, and implementation of joint programs and initiatives. This is in addition to developing digital skills to meet the needs of the labor market in the communications and information technology sector to keep pace with the accelerating digital revolution and contribute to increasing job opportunities in these sectors. The initiative includes launching several training programs covering data and artificial intelligence, software design and development, infrastructure, cyber security, financial technologies, technical project management, digital marketing, and user experience. The initiative aims to qualify 1,000 trainees by the year 2025. It will also cooperate with the Omani side in raising digital awareness through the dissemination of educational digital content and the provision of technical training courses online through Attaa Digital Webinar, targeting to reach 25,000 beneficiaries by 2025. — SPA
