The third Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) between the European External Action Service (EEAS) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman took place on 6 May 2025 in Brussels.

The meeting was held in the framework of the Cooperation Arrangement signed between the EEAS and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Oman on 20 September 2018.

Discussions were held in two parallel Working Groups: i) the Trade and Economic Agenda and ii) the Global Agenda. They were co-chaired by Nele Eichhorn, Head of Unit for the Gulf, Trade Relations with the Middle East and the Southern Neighbourhood (DG TRADE, European Commission), and Mihaela Matei, Deputy Head of Division for the Arabian Peninsula and Iraq (EEAS).

Exchanges focused on bilateral trade, fisheries and market access, green energy and the clean transition, education, research and innovation, economic diversification, and sustainable and green tourism.

The meeting provided an opportunity to take stock of progress since the last SOM held in Muscat in February 2022, and to identify priorities for enhanced cooperation through concrete sectoral initiatives.

The meeting was opened by Anna-Maria Panagiotakopoulou, Head of Division for the Arabian Peninsula and Iraq (EEAS), and Munther Mahfoodh Salim Al-Mantheri, Head of the Global Affairs Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Oman.