Muscat: The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment Promotion held its annual media briefing to discuss its plans for 2024. During the meeting, it was announced that foreign investors will benefit from reduced commercial registration fees and will receive the same treatment as Omani investors.
Furthermore, foreign investors will be provided with incentives and support to establish various projects. The Invest Easy platform will offer 51 investment opportunities, with a total investment volume surpassing OMR1 billion.
By the end of the third quarter of 2023, the Sultanate of Oman had attracted over OMR 25 billion in foreign direct investments, according to the Ministry.
The Ministry also revealed that by the end of the first quarter of 2024, the industrial sector is expected to attract approximately 35 industrial projects, with investments exceeding OMR 800 million. These projects will cover a range of industrial activities in different industrial and free zones.
In 2023 alone, industrial projects with an investment volume exceeding OMR 385 million were signed, the Ministry stated.
Additionally, the Ministry highlighted that foreign direct investment in the manufacturing sector had reached over OMR 1.4 billion by the end of the third quarter of 2023.
The total trade exchange between the Sultanate of Oman and other countries in 2023 amounted to approximately OMR 37.6 billion.
Lastly, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion confirmed that merchandise exports to the Sultanate of Oman in 2023 exceeded OMR 22.6 billion, with the oil and gas sector contributing OMR 13.7 billion to this total.
The Ministry announced the successful implementation of 29 initiatives in 2023, with 18 of them reaching 100% completion, surpassing an 85% completion rate. Additionally, over 437.8 thousand commercial records were registered on the “Oman Business Platform” in 2023, marking a 15.8% increase.
Moreover, the total transactions conducted through the “Oman Business Platform” exceeded 714 thousand in 2023, showing a growth of approximately 10.9% compared to 2022.
In September 2023, the manufacturing sector contributed more than OMR 2.5 billion to the GDP at current prices. Industrial activities accounted for 16.7% of this contribution, while manufacturing industries represented about 8.1%.
Furthermore, the Ministry reported that 27,505 industrial licenses were issued through the “Oman Business Platform” in 2023, a 21% increase from the previous year. Additionally, 72,302 certificates of origin were approved, and 232 identity certificates for the Omani product were issued by March 2024.
Ministerial Resolution No. 62/2023 was introduced to regulate the licensing of the national product identity, aiming to establish a unified national framework for the Omani product, enhance its marketing identity, and boost its competitiveness.
The “Made in Oman” campaign played a crucial role in promoting national products in the local market, showcasing the new national product identity logo, and encouraging industrial facilities to acquire their own license.
Lastly, the Ministry is working on establishing the Omani Accreditation Center to build trust in the outputs of conformity assessment bodies such as testing and calibration laboratories, inspection bodies, and certification bodies in Oman.
The Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Investment Promotion has planned to implement 48 initiatives in 2023. These initiatives include the introduction of the "Thiqa" brand for electronic stores in Oman, enhancing the digitization of industrial licenses on the Oman Business Platform, and a project aimed at modernizing factories with Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies.
