Summary: Another shady deal between the Government of Oman and Microsoft, as revealed by a 2007 diplomatic cable

"The agreement, signed by Mohammed Nasser al-Khusaibi, Chairman of the ITA and Secretary General of the Ministry of National Economy, and Charbel Fakhoury, General Manager of Microsoft Gulf, calls for an investment of $6 million in establishing the center, $1 million of which is to come from Microsoft under its investment partnership accord with the Omani government (reftel)."

Wait, what?

Why is the government covering the large majority of the costs for a Microsoft recruitment centre? Does the public of Oman (taxpayers) know that this is going on? It was only yesterday that we wrote about the Government of Oman and Microsoft. The same types of deals happen in other countries and remain secret for a reason. Here is the later Cablegate cable (it came months later):

VZCZCXYZ0002
RR RUEHWEB





DE RUEHMS #0323 0910806
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 010806Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY MUSCAT
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8035
INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC





UNCLAS MUSCAT 000323 




SIPDIS 




SIPDIS 




STATE FOR NEA/ARP, EEB/CBA 
COMMERCE FOR COBERG 




E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON, EINV, KIPR, MU 
SUBJECT: MICROSOFT FIRMS PARTNERSHIP WITH GOVERNMENT 




REF: 06 MUSCAT 1282 




1. On March 27, Microsoft concluded an agreement with Oman's 
Information Technology Authority (ITA) to launch an 
innovation and support center, to be housed at Knowledge 
Oasis Muscat (KOM), the government-run technology incubator. 
The agreement, signed by Mohammed Nasser al-Khusaibi, 
Chairman of the ITA and Secretary General of the Ministry of 
National Economy, and Charbel Fakhoury, General Manager of 
Microsoft Gulf, calls for an investment of $6 million in 
establishing the center, $1 million of which is to come from 
Microsoft under its investment partnership accord with the 
Omani government (reftel).  Microsoft Country Manager 
Abdullah al-Lootah told Econoff that the center will house 
between 20 to 40 Omanis, who will be trained by Microsoft 
consultants to deliver services under the government's 
"E-Oman" initiative in two to three years' time. 




2. Lootah explained that the initiative is one of several 
Microsoft is pursuing to "bridge the technology skills gap" 
in Oman.  In addition to the innovation center, Microsoft 
will team with KOM and other selected partners in training 
300 Omani government professionals per year on Microsoft 
solutions.  To support the government's recent purchase of 
over 22,000 operating licenses, Microsoft will provide 24 
hour on-site support services.  In terms of further promoting 
knowledge transfer opportunities, Microsoft will sponsor six 
month visits by government officials to the company's Dubai 
office to educate them on "best financial practices." 
GRAPPO 

Why is Microsoft receiving this franchise in Oman? Does that serve the interests of the Omani people? ⬆