The Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OMCI) held a meeting Tuesday in Muscat with the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries (MAF) and the Capital Market Authority to discuss a national program for agricultural insurance.
Agricultural insurance, also known as crop insurance, generally insures certain crops that are vulnerable to extreme weather events and commodity market prices. The insurance guards farmers against losses from either of those causes.
The OMCI first broached the subject in December, when it held the Agricultural Insurance Symposium to obtain input from government officials and representatives from the country's agricultural sector.
The symposium concluded that providing a comprehensive insurance package for the nation's crops is an important step in helping agriculture grow in Oman.
At Tuesday's meeting the Capital Market Authority CEO Abdullah bin Salim al-Salmi agreed to support this goal by organizing a meeting of insurance companies in March and preparing a survey on crop insurance for those companies. Meanwhile, OMCI and the MAF officials will prepare a report outlining the components of crop insurance, which crops ought to be insurable, and the strengths and weaknesses of different crop insurance strategies. The report will be used to inform the companies attending the meeting.
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