UNESCO SCIENCE REPORT

The Arab States
OMAN
An incentive scheme to bolster research
According to the 2012 country report by the
US Energy Information Administration, hydrocarbons
accounted for about 86% of government revenue and
half of GDP in 2013. Oman has an ambitious plan to
reduce the oil sector’s contribution to GDP to 9% by
2020. The aim is to diversify the economy, such as by
developing the tourism sector, as part of the government’s
Economic Vision 2020. There is little latitude for expanding
agricultural production but Oman hopes to exploit its
long coastline’s potential for the development of fisheries
and gas-based industries to achieve the goals of Economic
Vision 2020 (Salacanin, 2015).
Oman’s S&T system is centred around the Ministries of
Education and Higher Education and Sultan Qaboos
University. The Research Council is Oman’s sole research
funding body and thus spearheads R&D in the country.
Established in 2005, it has an extensive mandate.
The Research Council has identified the hurdles facing
Oman, such as complex administrative processes, little
funding, research of poor quality and the lack of relevance
of R&D to socio-economic needs (Al-Hiddabi, 2014).
To address these difficulties, the Research Council
developed a National Research Plan for Oman in 2010
which is linked to Oman’s overall development plans. The
plan outlines three stages: the first priority is to improve
the status of research and boost productivity; at the
second stage, the priority will be to build national research
capacity in priority areas determined by the availability of
appropriately qualified personnel and the establishment
of the requisite infrastructure; at the last stage, the focus
will be on strengthening the country’s niche areas.
The Research Council has also developed an incentive
scheme to foster research excellence. The programme
rewards researchers through an open research grant
scheme tied to their output. Besides stimulating
productivity, the idea is to increase the number of active
researchers, motivate them to mentor postgraduate
students and encourage them to publish in international,
refereed journals and to apply for patents.
In October 2014, Oman hosted the General Meeting of the
World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). Two months later, the
Research Council co-organized the second Arab–American
Frontiers Symposium with the US National Academy of
Sciences to facilitate research collaboration between
outstanding young scientists, engineers and medical
professionals from the USA and a number of Arab states.
PALESTINE
More research links needed with the market
Although Palestine does not have a national
STI policy, a recent innovation survey by Khatib et al. (2012)
of the two industrial sectors of stone quarrying and food
and beverages yielded encouraging findings. The survey
found that both sectors were innovative and having a
positive impact on employment and exports. The survey
recommended directing academic programmes towards
local economic development to help establish the necessary
co-operative links between the public and private sectors.
The Palestine Academy of Sciences and Technology
(PALAST) acts as an advisory body for the government,
parliament, universities and research institutes, as well as
for private donors and international organizations. One
of PALAST’s special features is the presence of a powerful
standing committee made up of a number of government
ministers; the standing committee operates alongside a
scientific council of elected members from PALAST
(PALAST 2014).
An observatory of STI
In 2014, PALAST launched its Science, Technology and
Innovation Observatory, which had been developed with
the support of ESCWA. The observatory’s main purpose
is to collect data on STI on a regular basis and promote
networking.
Hundreds of entrepreneurial web sites have been created by
young Palestinians in the past few years to showcase new
digital products that include games and software for specific
professions. Although internet connection costs have fallen
by almost 30% in recent years, the lack of connectivity
to a 3G network in the West Bank and Gaza Strip hinders
the use of mobile applications for education, health and
entertainment.
QATAR
Incentives for entrepreneurship
Besides its oil and gas industry, Qatar relies on
the petrochemical, steel and fertilizer industries to drive
the economy. In 2010, Qatar showed the world’s fastest
growth rate for industrial production: 27.1% over the
previous year. Qataris enjoy the world’s highest GDP
per capita (PPP$ 131 758) and one of the world’s lowest
unemployment rates: 0.5% (Table 17.1).
The Qatar National Vision 2030 (2008) advocates finding an
optimum balance between the current oil-based economy
and a knowledge economy characterized by innovation and
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