” إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون “

بقلوب مؤمنة بقضاء الله وقدره ، تتقدم القنصلية العامة لسلطنة عمان بأستراليا بأحر التعازي والمواساة لمعالي الدكتورة / راوية بنت سعود البوسعيدية وزيرة التعليم العالي ، في وفاة المغفور له بإذن الله تعالى والدها ، سائلين المولى عز وجل أن يتغمده بواسع رحمته وأن يسكنه فسيح جناته ، وأن يلهم أهله وذويه الصبر والسلوان

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of congratulations to President Bidhya Devi Bhandari of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal on the occasion of her being re-elected as a President of the Republic for another presidential term.

In his cable, His Majesty expressed his sincere congratulations along with his best wishes of good health and happiness to President Bhandari, wishing her success to achieve aspirations of the friendly people of Nepal and the friendship relations between the two countries further progress and prosperity.

His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said has sent a cable of congratulations to President Xi Jinping of the People’s Republic of China on the occasion of him being re-elected as a President of the Republic for another presidential term.

In his cable, His Majesty expressed his sincere congratulations along with his best wishes of success to President Jinping, the Chinese friendly people further progress and prosperity and the friendship relations between the two countries further progress.

Scores of people in Muscat will turn off their lights for an hour on March 24.

The gesture is a part of the Environment Society of Oman’s (ESO) global annual Earth Hour commemoration. People have been requested to turn off their lights from 8:30 pm to 9:30 pm to raise awareness and conserve energy.

ESO will also be holding an event for entertaining and educating guests with several programmes. The event will be held at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bausher on the same day. It will start at 6.30pm with a “scavenger hunt”, which will challenge participants to solve riddles using clues and information about humpback whales to find the hidden treasure.

This will be followed by other forms of entertainment, including live music performances, colouring activities for children, and food stalls. At 8:30 pm, an environmental documentary will be played during the “lights out” session.

The global theme of Earth Hour this year is “Connect2Earth”, which focuses on raising awareness about global biodiversity and its importance to ecosystems. In line with the theme, this year’s ESO event will focus on the Arabian Sea humpback whales, through a new collaboration with the organisation Xcape Muscat, which would be involved in the scavenger hunt.

“The focus of the event will primarily be on raising awareness over environmental issues, rather than saving energy. We have, however, noticed that we have been saving a good amount of energy every year,” Yusra Jaffer, Public Relations Manager at ESO, said.

“Over the last seven years, Earth Hour has been gaining traction in Oman. ESO works to achieve this by implementing several local conservation and awareness programmes and initiatives. Last year’s event attracted more than 400 people. The success of Earth Hour 2017 inspired us to continue our efforts to raise awareness through exciting interactive programmes that engage with the community and promote a culture of rationalisation and conservation. We are confident that participants will gain an insight into the importance of biodiversity and environmental sustainability,” Suaad Al Harthi, Programmes Director at ESO, said.

“As far as Arabian Sea humpback whales are concerned, we want to make people more aware. We want to tell people about the threat to these whales from ship strikes and the like, besides giving general information about marine life,” she added.

Xcape Muscat Chairman Abdullah Juma Saif Al Fahdi said, “We are honoured to be a part of this important global event that addresses pressing environmental challenges endangering our planet and future generations.”

All individuals and companies interested in participating in Earth Hour can take the pledge or find out more information at www.omanearthhour.org. ESO’s Suaad Al Harthi thanked the sponsors of this year’s Earth Hour event, Special Technical Services LLC (STS) and Al Zawawi Group.

Muscat: The new terminal of the Muscat International Airport will be a “silent” terminal.

Passengers will get most of the flight information on the display boards put up all around the terminal.

Airline officials said passenger boarding calls will only be made occasionally in the departure and boarding gate areas, at the new terminal of the Muscat International Airport. “The new terminal building will be silent with minimum announcements. All information the guests need will be displayed on screens around the terminal,” the national carrier of Oman, Oman Air, said.

It also said: “We can’t wait to see the new passenger terminal designed with the latest state-of-the-art technology and infrastructure facilities.”

Airline officials said limited boarding calls will be made in front of international departures gates, in keeping with global trends of silent airports and passengers becoming increasingly self-sufficient. Passengers at the new airport are advised to check their boarding passes and the flight information display boards for boarding times. Additionally, robots will guide passengers to the check-in counters at the new terminal when it opens on March 20.

“Besides robots, there will new screens, more people to assist the passengers at the new airport,” a senior OAMC official said.

Many international airports have already adopted a silent airport policy to improve airport ambience and reduce complaints about the number and frequency of calls for individual passengers, who have checked in but not arrived at the boarding gates, to board their flights. “We trust that passengers will take note of their individual responsibility in getting to their boarding gate and boarding the aircraft in good time,” said an airline official.

Suresh Kumar, an Indian expat, said: “These days, people don’t rely on the audio announcements anymore. They follow the signs and digital display of information and can do without the public address system. If it goes silent, then it would be a relief.”

The Wetland Reserve in the Governorate of Al Wusta is ranked one of the top 25 sites of international importance for winter migratory birds in the Middle East, and falls in the migration route between Asia and East Africa.

Located in the Wilayat of Mahut, the Wetland Reserve, declared as such by Royal Decree No. 51/2014, is a pristine site spread over an area of 2,621 square kilometres, with complex ecosystems and a unique biodiversity.

It is one of the world’s rare sites for the study of the sustainable use of wetlands in an intertidal zone.

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs is currently coordinating with the relevant authorities to declare the site as the nation’s second wetland reserve, after the Natural Qurm Reserve in the Governorate of Muscat, under the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands. Work is underway to complete the registration for the site.

The Sultanate has officially acceded to this agreement, under Royal Decree No. 64/2012.

The Wetland Reserve in the Wilayat of Mahut is a tourist resort for nature lovers, bird watchers, and wildlife lovers. It has the potential to contribute to the nation’s economy by focusing on the direct and indirect values related to the sustainability of natural resources.

The Bar Al Hakman peninsula forms the largest part of the Wetlands Reserve, consisting of coastal and inland plains of salt, mud flats, and some saltwater lakes of unique natural and geological importance overlooking the west coast of Masirah Island.

It enjoys unique natural components and has a range of islands, estuaries, avicennia trees, sea turtles, and marine mammals, including the rare and endangered Arabian humpback whales, and a range of coral reefs and seagrass. It also has a number of endemic species, such as the Oman clown, carnival corals, hawksbill, loggerhead and green turtles, common and red sandpipers, vultures, cedar birds and the curlew bird.

Since the mid-1980s, Bar Al Hakman has become a centre for the study of water birds in the Sultanate, which is carried out by volunteers and experts from international organisations.

The area has large salt landfills, which are of scientific importance in the migration of birds. It is a major stop in the migration path in the winters for thousands of aquatic birds, such as seagulls, sycamores and pterosaurs.

Recent field surveys carried out by the Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs, in cooperation with international experts, revealed an increase in the number of migratory birds visiting the reserve annually, with more than half a million birds stopping during the winter period. Eighteen varieties of birds were classified, including the crab plover, haematopoidea, pluvialis apricaria and others.

The Bar Al Hakman area also includes the largest natural cluster of avicennia in the Sultanate, on the Mahut Island in Ghubat Hashish. The total area of these trees is about 162 hectares.

There are also two species of marine grass in the Wetland Reserve in Al Wusta.

They maintain the ecological and chemical balance of the coastal waters and are used by many species of fish and crustaceans for breeding and food.

Yousuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, Minister Responsible for Foreign Affairs received in his office on Tuesday Johanna Brandt, Secretary General of the Foreign Affairs Ministry in the Netherlands, currently visiting the Sultanate within the framework of the regular political consultations between the two countries.

The meeting stressed the strong historic relations and the importance of the existing cooperation and partnership between the two friendly countries and peoples.

The meeting also touched on several political issues of common concern.

Meanwhile, the 25th round of the political consultations between the two countries were held at the General Diwan of the Foreign Ministry.

The Omani side was chaired by Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry, while the Dutch side was chaired by Johanna Brandt, Secretary General of the Foreign Affairs Ministry.

During the session, the two sides dealt with scope of strengthening the bilateral relations and enhancing cooperation in various promising areas of common interests, particularly the economic, trade and investment fields, as well as supporting the partnership at the commercial and private sector level.

The two sides stressed their keenness on promoting the cooperation opportunities in the areas of water management, logistics and clean energy.

At the diplomatic and political level, the two sides exchanged views on several challenges, current regional and international issues, and the efforts exerted to solve these issues through peaceful means, as well as dialogue and political negotiations.

The session was attended by a number of officials at the ministry, the Dutch appointed-ambassador to the Sultanate and the delegation accompanying the guest.

Muscat: More than 100 participants are expected to sign up for a new tourism expo in Oman, which aims to further drive tourism and boost investment in the Sultanate.

The Essence of Oman expo will target five high-potential areas of Oman’s tourism sector, which has been earmarked as one of the key points of development in the nation’s Tanfeedh plans for economic diversification.

“Oman has a lot of options for tourists, and this is why we are primarily going to target five areas of leisure: adventure, culture and history, and spa and wellness are three of the most important aspects of Oman, and you also have conventional tourists who also come here to relax, in addition to those who come here for marine activities such as deep-sea diving and snorkelling,” said Eva Mulyana, general manager for Thuriya, the organisers behind the expo.

Set to be held at the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre from March 12 to 14, Essence of Oman is run in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism and Riyada, Oman’s SME development arm.

“We began preparation for this about a year ago, because we realised that Oman has immense potential when it comes to developing tourism,” she added.

“There are still some areas that are unfortunately underdeveloped, and if tourists don’t have access to proper facilities – which may be something as simple as toilets by the beach – they will not see Oman as a long-term, viable tourist destination and will then go elsewhere, and this will hurt the economy.

“Oman has all the ingredients to become a world-class tourist destination and so we are trying to make that happen,” said Mulyana. “Our first priority is to open this up to local investors and then we will look to invite foreign investors the next time onward.”

“We have invited local representatives from many sectors, including adventure and outdoor sports, food and beverage, transportation and spa companies among many others, so investors will be able to see the variety of services available on offer.”

Mulyana hopes that Essence of Oman will one day be able to grow until it is able to rival the Arabian Travel Market, the GCC’s biggest travel expo, which takes place every April in Dubai.

“When we invited many of the companies, they said they would be attending the Arabian Travel Market in Dubai, and we realised that so many companies from Oman are going there when they should really be attracting customers by promoting themselves here,” she revealed. “When companies from here go to Dubai, they have to pay a lot more for designs, travel costs, hotel expenses and the exhibition stalls so there are a lot more advantages here.

“Oman is a country that has so much to offer as compared to the rest of the GCC nations, because it has so much heritage and culture that the other nations maybe don’t have, and the people here are so friendly,” explained Mulyana. “In Oman, you can see everything from the deserts to the mountains to the seas and the wadis and there are so many things that people who have lived here for so long have not seen as well, so where else will you get this?”

Oman’s long-standing reputation as a peaceful and non-controversial nation would also help attract investment in future, she added. “Every tourist and investor wants to come to a country that is stable and peaceful because that means there is a better chance for businesses to be successful, and that is especially important in the case of tourism,” said Mulyana. “Oman has long been a nation that is peaceful this will definitely work in its favour.

“We have known for a while now that Oman is looking to move away from its traditional oil and gas-based sources of revenue, and since it has so much potential for tourism, I believe investment in Oman’s tourism sector will help in the future, because it will ultimately benefit the economy,” she added.