GEM country brief - Oman 2005

44204 Gender Entrepreneurship Markets (GEM) International Finance Corporation (IFC) GEM Country Brief -- OMAN 2005 Woman entrepreneur's merchandise on display at IFC's Women Get the Business Edge Workshop (May 2005) This Gender Entrepreneurship Markets (GEM) Country Brief series is intended to provide an overview of the status of women's entrepreneurship in countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The focus of IFC's PEP- MENA GEM Program is to expand women's participation in the private sector by providing support to growth- oriented small and medium enterprises and by expanding women's employment opportunities. Labor Force Participation Since the 1970s Oman's educational system has undergone a phenomenal transformation with increasing numbers of women being educated. Despite these significant gains in women's education, the participation rate of women in the labor force in Oman remains low. In 2000, such rate was 13% compared to a rate of 58.8% for men. It is estimated that more than 70% of female high school graduates and women with higher education are employed in the public and private sectors. The unemployment rate, at 70% is high for females with secondary school degrees, compared to an unemployment rate of 3.7% for female university graduates. The Omani population was estimated by the Population Reference Bureau of the Arab World to double within 14 years from 1996, which is much faster than in any other nation in the Gulf, the Arab world on average, or the developing world as a whole. Consequently, considerable additional efforts are required in the near future to meet the jobs gap in Oman if both the new entrants and some of the unemployed are to find jobs. In light of these statistics, women's entrepreneurship emerges as an important vehicle for promoting economic growth in Oman. 1 In Oman, with the exception of the oil sector and the major establishments (such as Oman Mobile and Nawras), both men and women tend to prefer government sector jobs over private sector employment given the opportunities for career advancement, higher pay, pension schemes, and generous fringe benefits offered by government jobs. Approximately 56% of Omani nationals are employed in the government sector (80% "Omanized",2 20% expatriates) 1According to the International Labour Organization, Fact Finding Mission Report, Oman 2003, the magnitude of Oman's employment challenge is immense. While the Government seeks to reduce employment in the public sector, demographic pressure translates into a world record labor force growth of 4.9% per annum in the present planning period (2001-2005), amounting to about 40,000 new entrants into the labor market every year. The Omani population skyrocketed from 0.9 million in 1975 to 2.5 million in 2001 (including 630,000 foreigners) and is projected to rise to 3.9 million in 2015 and approximately 5 million by 2030. The annual average population growth rate between 1975 and 2001 was 4.1%. It is projected to come down to 2.7% in the period from 2001 to 2015. While population growth is expected to decline, the figures are nonetheless staggering. Seen worldwide, Oman's current population growth rate is exceeded only by the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Yemen and the 9 poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa. In the period of the Fifth Five-Year Plan (1996-2000), the average annual employment growth rate in Oman was 2.3% The rate projected for the present Five-Year Plan period (2001-05) is 3%, which amounts to 109,235 jobs. This target of job growth falls considerably short of the rate at which the labor force is projected to increase. 2Omanization is the program toward replacing expatriates with trained Omani manpower. It has been operational since 1988, and has high priority on the Government's agenda. 1  compared to 44% in the private sector (only 10% Omanized).3 Of the total female labor force, 66% work in the public sector and 34% in the private sector.4