Pact signed for building material market

Muscat: A shareholders' agreement has been signed for the development of a Building Material Market Project in Duqm.
The agreement has been signed by Oman Wanfang, the developer and operator of the China-Oman (Duqm) Industrial Park, with Al Thabat Holding and Oman Company for the Development of a Special Economic Zone at Duqm (Tatweer).
The project will be developed under a joint venture company, Duqm Material Market, where Oman Wanfang will invest 51 per cent, while Al Thabat and Tatweer will hold 34 per cent and 15 per cent equity respectively.
The Building Material Market Project comprises the development of land, and basic warehousing and retail space for third party building material companies to showcase and store their products.
This project will enable various companies around the world to come to Duqm and make Duqm a base for marketing and selling their products related to the construction industry.
Given the advantage in location of Duqm, this initiative is expected to bring about logistics efficiency for the sector, and not only Oman, other countries in the Middle East and East Africa will also benefit from the construction material market being established on the coast of Duqm.
The project is located within Phase 1 of the China-Oman (Duqm) Light Industry Park, a proposed industrial city. Of the total land area allocated to the Building Material Market Project, approximately 250,000sqm will comprise retail/commercial space, warehousing/logistics space and land area for utilities and infrastructure. The first phase of the project is expected to begin construction by 2018-end.
Oman Wanfang, which has signed a usufruct agreement for the development of an industrial park and tourist zone in Duqm, is taking up several projects in Duqm with the support of Chinese investments. Al Thabat Holding is an investment company, instrumental in dealing with infrastructure activities within Oman.
Tatweer (Oman Company for the Development of a Special Economic Zone at Duqm) is a 100 per cent subsidiary of the Special Economic Zone Authority at Duqm (Sezad), which acts as a catalyst for investments in Duqm by participating with minority shareholding and works as a local partner for overseas investors. This is the third investment by Tatweer in Duqm in the last 12 months.