Monday 16 / September / 2024
Muscat: As many as 26,657 commercial records were registered at the governorate of Al Batinah South in 2022, compared to 23,915 in 2021 registering an increase of 11.5 per cent.
This was stated by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion (MoCIIP) which works to develop the economic sector in the Governorate of Al Batinah South, particularly in the investment, commercial and industrial aspects, in cooperation with the various authorities in the governorate.
Tariq bin Nasser Al Harasi, Director of the Department of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion at the South of Al Batinah South said: “The governorate has many advantages that contribute to the growth of the economy and also to increase the volume of investments in it.”
He added that the Governorate of Al Batinah South is blessed by its unique geographical location which is between the Governorates of Muscat, the Governorate of Al Batinah North and the Governorate of Al Dakhiliyah.
He further said: “The Governorate of Al Batinah South is the home to Khazaen Economic City (KEC) in the Wilayat of Barka, which is one of the economic cities that attract huge foreign investments, where it provides many facilities for investors. In the same Governorate, there is Sandan Industrial City in the Wilayat of Nakhal, which also provides many facilities and incentives for various commercial and industrial activities.”
Tariq Al Harasi pointed out that, “The Governorate of Al-Batinah South is also enjoying a unique nature and important historical and archaeological sites, as it is also considered an attractive tourism destination in the Sultanate of Oman, which Oman Vision 2040 works to boost the tourism sector in the governorate. It also encourages investment through the establishment of hotels, tourism resorts, and other recreational and tourism facilities, as well as promoting and marketing tourism products at the international level.”
He further clarified that, within the framework of the 'Made in Oman' campaign, which aims at supporting the industrial sector and promoting Omani products, the Department of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion at the Governorate of Al Batinah South organised during the past year four exhibitions of Omani products in several commercial centres and Malls at the governorate, where they were well received by the local community.
He emphasised that the MoCIIP always seeks to expand the base of Omani products to enhance local production and to market national products in the local and international markets.
He also pointed out that, the Department of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion at the Governorate of Al Batinah South has carried out many inspection campaigns, including all fuel filling stations, centres, malls and commercial stores, to calibrate the commercial weights and scales in the governorate, to ensure the calibration of commercial weights and scales and monitor all devices following the organising regulations and the standard specifications.
Tariq Al Harasi clarified that the building and construction contracting sector and the export and import offices in the Governorate of Al Batinah South have witnessed significant growth during the past year, as the two sectors were the highest recorded activities in a row, while the number of registered activities in the two sectors reached 3,147 activities in 2022, and the number of the registered foreign investors in the governorate in 2022 reached 2,486 investors, that reflects the attractiveness of the governorate for foreign investments and the importance of the measures and facilities that have been taken and provided to investors.
Al Harassi also pointed out that, the number of automatic licence applications that were submitted through the Invest Easy portal in the Governorate of Al Batinah South, exceeded 50,000 applications since the launch of the service in April 2021, till the end of the year 2022, that confirms the high demand for this service.
He stressed that the Invest Easy platform has contributed to facilitating and accelerating the procedures for establishing and operating companies in the Sultanate of Oman, where investors can view all necessary information and procedures through the platform's website, while investors can submit their applications online from anywhere and at any time. It is also possible to obtain licences automatically through Invest Easy, as this platform allows investors to obtain automatic licences for more than 1,500 different activities, while this service constitutes 88 per cent of the total commercial activities.
Al Harasi also said: “The improvement of economic figures in the Governorate of Al Batinah South during the year of 2022 is a positive sign of the efforts made by the government represented by the MoCIIP to improve the investment environment and enhance the attractiveness of the Sultanate of Oman as a destination for investment and trade in the region.”
Al Harassi called on investors who are interested in investing in the Sultanate of Oman to evaluate the available opportunities in the Governorate of Al-Batinah South and to identify the government procedures, by visiting the Invest in Oman lounge, which is a unified window for integrated government services, where it provides all services to investors and displays investment opportunities that exceed OMR1 million.
