Muscat: The Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (Madayn) organised on Wednesday a seminar entitled 'Nizwa Industrial City: Reality and Prospects' under the patronage of Sheikh Hilal bin Said Al Hajri, Governor of Al Dakhiliyah.
Held as part of Madayn’s Oman Manufacturing Group (OMG) series of events for the year 2022, the seminar aimed at highlighting the current investment climate in Nizwa Industrial City and elaborates on the prospects and opportunities.
Speaking at the seminar, Ahmed Al Hajri, Director General of Nizwa Industrial City, emphasised that the manufacturing sector represents one of the key non-oil sectors identified by the Sultanate’s government to boost economic diversification. “The contribution of non-oil sectors is expected to reach 90 per cent of total GDP by the end of 2040,” Al Hajri said, adding, “The economic stimulus plan, approved by the Council of Ministers and endorsed by His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik Al Said, presents incentives to ensure economic growth rates of more than 2.5 per cent.”
Al Hajri informed that the investment volume in Al Dakhiliyah Governorate has touched approximately OMR900 million, of which OMR600 million is the total investment volume of Nizwa and Samail Industrial Cities, representing 66 per cent of the total investment volume in Al Dakhiliyah. The number of localised projects in these two industrial cities has reached nearly 300, which employ around 6647 of the workforce.
Al Hajri then outlined the incentives offered by Madayn to the investors and business owners in its network of industrial cities across the Sultanate. These include lease period of lands and facilities for up to 30 years, renewable for the same period; usufruct contracts for up to 99 years; right to waive the lease right for the remaining period of the contract; right to sell constructions and buildings on the leased land; right to involve new partners in the lease contract; fair evaluation of buildings and facilities upon the termination of the lease contract; developed and equipped lands with basic services (water, electricity, telecom, roads); and transparent legal frameworks illustrating rights and obligations; punctuality in service delivery; in addition to other incentives.
Madayn Vision 2040
On her part, Mariya Al Zadjali, Director of Strategic Planning and Corporate Performance Assessment at Madayn, briefed the audience on Madayn Vision 2040, which aims at creating world-class business cities while maintaining the Omani identity to contribute to economic growth. The vision revolves around promoting comprehensive and sustainable economic and social development through strengthening Public-Private partnerships, developing and operating business cities with integrated services, keeping pace with the variables and adopting the best solutions and technologies to meet business requirements while conforming to the environmental standards.
Investment complexes
Eng. Samar Al Hosni, Director of Planning and Geographical Systems at Madayn, delivered a presentation on the investment opportunities available in Madayn Investment Complexes in Sur, Samail, Sohar and Al Buraimi Industrial Cities. In Sur Industrial City, investment opportunities are offered in food investment complexes on an area of 42,000 sqm, and multiple industries investment complexes on an area of 41,000 sqm.
Samail Industrial City offers investment opportunities in food investment complexes (53,000 sqm), multiple industries investment complexes (22,000 sqm), and logistics investment complexes (61,000 sqm). Sohar Industrial City’s available investment opportunities include food investment complexes (60,000 sqm), multiple industries (60,000 sqm), and plastic industries investment complexes (50,000 sqm). Al Buraimi Industrial City also offers investment opportunities in food investment complexes (27,000 sqm) and multiple industries investment complexes (32,000 sqm).