Five National Publications Document Omani Trade, Industry Figures Before 1970

Muscat: The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth recently unveiled five key publications of a comprehensive national project titled 'Omani Personalities Engaged in Trade and Industry Before 1970.' The project falls in five parts that cover the governorates of Muscat, Musandam, Dhofar, and Al Dakhiliyah (Part One and Part Two). It was undertaken in cooperation with the Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation, and Oman National Commission for Education, Culture and Science (Ministry of Education). According to Oman News Agency, the project aims to document the economic, social, oral, and narrative history of the Sultanate of Oman. It reflects a national trend towards highlighting the contributions of Omanis in the fields of trade and industry. It documents the economic roles played by business figures who had an active presence in shaping the features of economic and social life in the various wilayats of the Sultanate of Oman. The project was based on direct fieldwork that included extensive i nterviews with elderly narrators and families of merchants and craftsmen in the covered governorates. The interviews contributed to restoring accurate details about trade routes, traditional market systems, local crafts and industries, and prevailing economic and social relations before 1970. The project also contributed to filling important gaps in the history of the Omani economy.