Muscat: Oman has extended social insurance coverage for all self-employed Omanis with a new Royal Decree on social insurance coverage.
Giving details of the measure, Shaikh Abdullah Bin Nasser Al Bakri, Minister of Manpower and Chairman of the Public Authority for Social Insurance (PASI) Board, said that the insurance coverage provided by the system isn’t confined to a specific segment of private business owner, but includes all types of self-employmed citizens such as lawyers, doctors, engineers, accountants, auditors, fishermen and the like.
He said that the PASI was continuously striving to extend the umbrella of social insurance and has gone a long way in providing social insurance for self-employed Omanis by devising legislation and mechanisms that ensure the application of the system to the target segments.
He said that the new initiative will expand the social insurance coverage for self-employed nationals and provide them with job protection in line with the directives of Sultan Qaboos Bin Saeed giving special attention to the national workforce.
“The system also aims at enhancing the productivity of the self-employed as well as contributing in the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises,” the minister said, adding that joining the system was optional. “However, it provides protection against old age, death and disability.”
According to a report by government-owned Oman News Agency, registration with the system will start within two months from the date of issue of the Royal Decree, so that the target segment can review the system and conditions.
