Gilani to visit Oman to boost economic ties       
ISLAMABAD, Dec 24 (APP): Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani will pay an official two-day visit to Oman to seek greater investment and increase trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.Prime Minister Gilani during his visit from Dec 27 will have an audience with Sultan Qaboos bin Al-Said and hold talks with the Omani leadership with a focus on trade and investment and further strengthening of bilateral ties in all spheres. Situation in the region, Middle East with particular focus on Iraq, Pakistan-India ties and cooperation at multilateral fora would also figure during the talks.
The Prime Minister would congratulate Sultan Qaboos on Oman’s 40th National Day, that also coincides with 40 years of his reign that brought unprecedented development and progress to the country.  Queen Elizabeth of England and other world leaders had already visited Oman to greet the Sultan.
Prime Minister Gilani, will be accompanied by Minister for Foreign Affairs Shah Mahmood Qureshi and Chief Minister Balochistan Nawab Muhammad Aslam Khan Raisani.
Pakistan and Oman have deep cultural, historic, religious and ethnic ties and almost 30 per cent of Omani population is from Balochi. Gwadar and Makran were part of Oman till 1958.
Oman is also home to around 175,000 Pakistanis, working in diverse fields including skilled and non-skilled workers. The remittances from Oman have also seen a quantum leap over the years, increasing from 130 million in 2005-06 to US$ 287 million in 2009-10.
Sultan Qaboos visited Pakistan in 2001 and announced US 100 million dollars grant, the larger chunk of which - US$ 64 million dollars was allocated for development of Balochistan.
An amount of US$ 17.5 million dollars was earmarked for the Gwadar International Airport and US$ 27.5 for Gwadar, and Pakistan would urge Oman to divert the unspent amount of US 19.1 million dollar for the relief of the flood affected people.
Oman is also a founding member of the Gulf Cooperation Council, member of the Arab League and the United Nations as well as founder member of the Indian Ocean Rim Association for Regional Cooperation.
In November 2010, the UN Development Programme’s (UNDP) Human Development Report listed Oman as the “most-improved” nation in last 40 years from among 135 countries worldwide. The report identified top movers relative to the starting point in 1970. Oman ranks first out of 135, followed by Saudi Arabia (5th), Tunisia (7th), Algeria (9th) and Morocco (10th).