Commercial registration fees for foreign investors will be reduced: Ministry

Muscat: The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment Promotion, in its annual media meeting to review its plan for 2024, said that the commercial registration fees for foreign investors will be reduced, and they will be treated on par with  Omani investors.

The ministry added that foreign investors would be given incentives and facilities to establish various projects, and 51 investment opportunities will be available through the Invest Easy platform with an investment volume exceeding OMR1 billion.

The volume of foreign direct investments in the Sultanate of Oman by the end of the third quarter of 2023 crossed more than OMR 25 billion, the Ministry said.

The Ministry said: "At the end of the first quarter of 2024, the industrial sector will attract about 35 industrial projects with investments exceeding  OMR 800 million  in several industrial activities in various industrial and free zones."

"During the year 2023, industrial projects with an investment volume exceeding OMR 385 million  were signed."

"The volume of foreign direct investment in the manufacturing sector until the end of the third quarter of 2023 amounted to more than OMR 1.4 billion," the Ministry added.

"The total trade exchange between the Sultanate of Oman and the countries of the world reached about OMR 37.6 billion  in 2023."

The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion confirmed that the total merchandise exports to the Sultanate of Oman in 2023  exceeded more than OMR 22.6 billion, including OMR 13.7 billion from the oil and gas sector.

The Ministry indicated the implementation of 29 initiatives during the year 2023. 18 of them were completed and implemented 100 per cent, with the completion rate exceeding 85 per cent. The Ministry said: "More than 437.8 thousand commercial records were registered on the “Oman Business Platform” in 2023, an increase of 15.8 per cent."

"The total transactions completed through the “Oman Business Platform” were more than 714 thousand transactions during the year 2023, an increase of about 10.9 per cent compared to the year 2022."

"The contribution of the manufacturing sector to the GDP (at current prices) amounted to more than OMR 2.5 billion in September 2023. The contribution of industrial activities reached 16.7 per cent while manufacturing industries amounted to about 8.1 per cent."

The Ministry stated that 27,505 industrial licenses were issued through the “Oman Business Platform” during the year 2023, an increase of 21 per cent over the year 2022. 72,302 certificates of origin were approved during the past year, and 232 identity certificates for the Omani product were issued as of March 2024.

"Ministerial Resolution No. 62/2023 was issued regulating the licensing of the national product identity, which contributes to creating a unified national framework for the Omani product, unifying its marketing identity, and raising its competitiveness."

"The “Made in Oman” campaign contributed to introducing and promoting national products in the local market, promoting the new national product identity logo, and encouraging industrial facilities to obtain their own license."

The Ministry seeks, through the initiative of establishing the Omani Accreditation Center, to enhance confidence in the outputs of conformity assessment bodies (testing and calibration laboratories, inspection bodies, and certification bodies) in the Sultanate of Oman.

The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion is carrying out 48 initiatives during the year 2023, including developing and adopting the “Thiqa” brand for electronic stores in the Sultanate of Oman, developing the digitisation of industrial licenses in the Oman Business Platform, and a project to upgrade factories to the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.