primitive backwater to a modern, functioning, largely secular society. >> bin sulaiman: his vision was to deliver the services first, the electricity, water, healthcare, education. it was like a one man show. >> anthony: usually a one man shows are not a good thing. >> bin sulaiman: that's right. >> anthony: i mean historically, seldom does that work out. but you look around and see how the country is doing now it's pretty impressive. >> bin sulaiman: it's a tremendous job that his majesty has done. people just felt like, he's the man that they were waiting for to enlighten their life, and to open doors for them. ♪ ♪ >> anthony: oman, it should be understood sits at the top of the indian ocean rim. the empire once stretched from pakistan to east africa, with important trade routes that reached from southern africa all the way to the china straits, indonesia and deep into east