Sultan Qaboos chairs cabinet meeting

On 8 April, Oman’s Sultan Qaboos Bin Said Al-Said presided over his first council of ministers’ meeting since returning to Muscat on 23 March, following lengthy treatment in Germany for what is understood to be cancer. Photographs showed the sultan in good spirits as he attended the meeting at Bayt Al-Baraka. With Oman somewhat in limbo during his eight-month absence, he spoke of the need to speed up economic diversification (an ever more pressing problem in Oman, given how far the price of oil has fallen), complete major projects, attract investment, and activate public-private partnerships.