Saudi Arabia signed deals with Oman valued at $30 billion, state media said Tuesday, as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman began a tour of Gulf Arab countries, including former rival Qatar.
Saudi and Omani companies “signed 13 memoranda of understanding worth $30 billion”, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.
The MoUs between the two countries, which seek to diversify their economies away from oil, range from cooperation in the energy and tourism sectors to finance and technology.
Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler, Prince Mohammed, landed in Muscat late Monday, the first stop on a regional trip leading up to a Gulf Arab summit in mid-December.
He will also travel to the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Qatar, according to SPA.
Prince Mohammed’s visit to Doha will be his first since the two countries cut ties four years ago.
In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Bahrain severed all ties with Qatar, claiming it sponsored radical Islamist organizations and was too close to Riyadh’s foe Tehran, claims Doha disputed.
Following a historic summit in January, they restored full diplomatic relations with Qatar.
The prince’s trip coincides with a flurry of diplomacy aimed at resolving regional conflicts, particularly with Iran and Turkey.
In recent weeks, there have been signs of a thaw between Saudi Arabia and Iran, with Tehran and Riyadh holding numerous rounds of discussions aimed at mending relations since April.
Meanwhile, Turkey has attempted to mend fences with old Gulf adversaries such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
After the assassination of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the kingdom’s Istanbul consulate in 2018, simmering tensions between Ankara and Riyadh erupted.
Prince Mohammed’s trip falls on the same day as Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s visit to Doha on Tuesday, though Qatar’s foreign minister claims the timing is purely accidental.
Gulf states have been investing substantially in tourism, entertainment, and sports in recent years in order to diversify their economies away from oil.
