Development projects in Oman

This file concerns issues of economic development in Oman. It contains correspondence relating to:

• The activities of British-owned companies in Oman, including Sultan Qaboos Bin Saeed Al Said's dissatisfaction with construction projects in Salalah being carried out by Taylor Woodrow Limited; the construction of tourist facilities in Oman led by Gulf Aviation; the awarding of contracts to the Cementation Company to construct a diplomatic quarter in the Muscat suburb of Qurum and to construct a new township, Medinat Qaboos; and suspicions that this contract may have been improperly obtained
• The issue of a bank account at Morgan Guaranty Trust Company in the name of the former Sultan Saeed Bin Taimur, and whether this is a private or state asset
• The search for an Economic Adviser for the Omani Government
• The establishment of an economic Planning Committee by Abdul Hafidh Saleem Rajab
• Internal rivalries in the Omani Government centred around Rajab, whose bids for influence and Russian connections arouse suspicion among other government figures
• A decree by Sultan Qaboos announcing reforms in the government machinery for economic development, centred on the creation of a Supreme Planning Council
• A proposal for economic development in Dhofar, where a rebellion is taking a heavy toll on the state budget
• The Perspective Budget of the Government of Oman to the year 1977
• The question of obtaining development funding from the UN following the establishment of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) representation in the Gulf under the Syrian diplomat Abdul Latif Succar, with biographical information on Succar and reports of his clash with the Omani economic adviser Riyadh Ra’is