THE Sultanates of Oman and Brunei marked a visit to Muscat by Brunei's Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah with the launch on Thursday of a joint $100 million investment fund, official news agency ONA reported. The fund, which will be equally shared between the two states and based in Muscat, is aimed at fostering investment opportunities in the two countries in the commercial, industrial and tourism sectors, the agency reported. The Sultan of Brunei, a rich oil and gas producing country, is on a visit to Oman as part of a regional tour which has already taken him to Kuwait. Meanwhile, Oman ranks 50th in the Global IT Report 2008-09 featuring 134 countries published at the World Economic Forum. Great strides have been made in the field of information technology within the sultanate in terms of secure infrastructure, services, legislation, online payments, frameworks, policies and awareness. In addition Oman's efforts in procuring advanced technology products for its IT systems has been ranked at the 22nd position, thus increasing the overall Government readiness index to the 39th rank. The position of Oman in government usage is at 45, and this is based on the government's success in ICT promotion, availability of government services online, presence and efficient use of ICT within the public sector and e-participation. Despite the global trends of economic and inflation, Oman has improved its position from 53rd in the 2007-08 report to its current place in a ranking which focuses on mobility in a networked world. Information and Communication technologies as an enabler contribute significantly to the core of national competitiveness. This report measures ICT diffusion in various dimensions to present the Network Readiness Index (NRI). The NRI is a unique tool for policy maker and all relevant stakeholders, allowing them to follow the progress of countries over time based on standard metrics, evaluated by a neutral and authoritative platform with the aim to enhance networked readiness and competitiveness. Oman's significant ranking places it highly in terms of Government readiness and Usage. The placement of Oman in terms of the importance given to ICT in the government's vision for future is ranked as high 21 among the 134 countries considered. The Global IT Report is part of the Global competitiveness Report issued at the recently held World Economic Forum. With over 100 indicators along with a detailed profile for each of the 134 countries featured, the report is the most comprehensive assessment of its kind in global rankings.
