UAE remains Oman’s top non-oil export market

Business Tuesday 25/April/2017 17:06 PM
By: Times News Service
UAE remains Oman’s top non-oil export market

Muscat: Oman’s neighbouring country, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), retained its position as the main destination of the country’s non-oil exports in the first eleven months of 2016.
The Sultanate’s non-oil exports to the UAE touched OMR559.7 million, which constitutes 24.95 per cent of the total OMR2,243.1 million non-oil exports of the country in the first eleven months ending November, according to the latest statistics from National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
However, Oman’s exports to the UAE showed a decline of 2.4 per cent in the first eleven months of 2015, compared to the same period of previous year.
According to NCSI, India is the second largest importer of Omani products, followed by Saudi Arabia, China and Yemen.
India’s non-oil imports from Oman edged up by 0.7 per cent to OMR244.1 million during the period. Non-oil exports to Yemen surged ahead by 171.8 per cent to OMR159.3 million during the period, over the same period of the previous year.
The Sultanate’s total non-oil exports fell by 19.6 per cent to OMR2,243.1 million in the first eleven months, from OMR2,788.5 million for the same period of the previous year.
The fall in export revenue was mainly on account of a plunge in commodity prices in international markets. As far as the Sultanate’s imports are concerned, the UAE retained its position as the top exporter of goods and services to Oman during the eleven month period, with the imports from the neighbouring country touching OMR3,977.4 million.
Total imports
The Sultanate’s total imports from different trading partners edged down by 19.4 per cent to OMR8,189.1 million during the period.
According to NCSI, India was the second leading country for Oman’s imports, followed by China, Japan and the United States. In fact, the Sultanate imported Indian goods and services worth of OMR416.2million, but shows a decline of 23.5 per cent over the same period last year.
Oman’s export development agency, Public Authority for Investment Promotion and Export Development (popularly known as Ithraa), has been undertaking several initiatives to enhance non-oil exports, especially to its target markets.
These programmes include visits of trade delegations, participation in international exhibitions, business-to-business meetings and market studies in potential export markets.