Interview of Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi with Okaz newspaper
His Excellency Sayyid Badr bin Hamad bin Hamoud Al Busaidi, the Foreign Minister, gave an interview to the Saudi Okaz newspaper, published on Sunday July 18th 2021, the text of which is as follows:
How do you describe His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik’s visit to Saudi Arabia?
The visit was a historical one and has an important strategic weight at the level of bilateral and regional relations. We were touched by the warm reception, generous hospitality , and spontaneous fraternal friendship we saw. This of course is not strange to the Saudi leadership and the brotherly Saudi people.
What are you going to do to render this visit successful?
I think, for the officials of Oman and Saudi Arabia, we have to work together and translate the results and dimensions of this visit into tangible reality to live up to the aspirations of our leadership and usher in a new era of fruitful cooperation that would strengthen balance in the region and contribute to more convergence, stability, and growth.
What are your aspirations of the Saudi-Omani Coordination Council, which was announced during the visit?
The Saudi-Omani Coordination Council will be the umbrella and reference body for cooperation between the governments of two countries, and will follow up the signing of many agreements and memorandums of understanding in all areas that support our common interests. It will, at the same time, strengthen the bonds that bind the two countries and that two leaderships are keen to nurture in the Gulf Cooperation Council. I personally look forward to continuing to work very closely and persistently with my dear brother Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud, the Saudi Foreign Minister.
What’s up in the coming period?
There is a lot of work to do to follow up on the implementation of the decisions and directives of our leaders, to serve the brotherly people of our countries and enhance the common interests of the GCC countries.
What about the current situation in the Sultanate of Oman?
We have to prepare ourselves for a post pandemic phase, and we have a great challenge to achieve Oman’s Vision 2040. We are very optimistic for the future thanks to our wise leadership. We live in a fast-changing world and must keep pace with this development politically, economically and socially. If there is single theme to identify in this respect, it is to stress the importance of social justice at home and abroad.
What is the Omani position regarding the Palestinian issue?
The Palestinian people have been denied their legitimate rights for far too long. Therefore, we always call for the implementation of the two-state solution based on the United Nations resolutions, the international law and the Arab peace initiative.
What about Yemen?
We are also deeply concerned about the suffering of the Yemeni people and support all efforts to bring peace to our neighbouring country.
There is the Saudi Vision 2030 and Oman Vision 2040, how will these two visions integrate?
The logistics sector is one of the most important areas of cooperation and partnership between the two countries, especially in light of the expected historic opening of the first direct land border crossing between the Sultanate of Oman and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the promising logistics projects and integrative infrastructure that will follow, God willing. I expect that the coming period will witness important developments on the path of the implementation of the Kingdom’s vision 2030 and Oman’s vision 2040, to achieve mutual goals of convergence and integration between them. I also think that there will also be strategic mutual benefits stemming from the advantages of the two neighbouring countries geographical locations, and their inter connected markets. We look to the future with high optimism and greater interaction for the benefit of all.
This is an unofficial English translation of the original Arabic text. To view the official Arabic text click here