LONDON: Oman will apply five percent value-added tax (VAT) in the beginning of 2021, the country’s minister of commerce and industry said on Tuesday. “VAT is something people don’t like it but this is something we have been lobbying for. It will come into effect sometime in the beginning of the next year,” Ali bin Masoud Al-Sunaidy told Bloomberg TV at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The minister added that Oman was aiming for 2.5 to 3 percent annual economic growth and is looking to manufacturing, tourism, fisheries and logistics in a bid to diversify its economy away from oil. Al-Sunaidy said he hoped oil prices would rise to $70 per barrel, but that even $65 per barrel would be “helpful,” adding that Oman was in a position to balance its budget even if the price of oil fell below $60. There are currently three Gulf Cooperation Council countries — the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain — who have levied VAT as agreed by the six member countries.