Oman attracts OMR6.7b in foreign direct investment

Muscat: The value of foreign direct investment (FDI) at the end of the second quarter 2015 stood at about OMR6.7 billion, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry stated, quoting statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
The initial data released by NCSI pointed out that at the end of 2015, the gross domestic product (GDP) at current prices in retail and wholesale stood at about OMR2.29 billion, compared to OMR2.083 billion in 2014.
The contribution of the service sector activity to GDP rose by 3.1 per cent to OMR13.215 billion at the end of 2015, compared with OMR12.814 billion at the end of 2014.
The data on trade exchange for 2015 pointed out that the value of trade exchanges (including oil and other imports and exports) in 2015 stood at OMR24.557 billion, slipping from OMR31.731 billion in 2014. The value of imports in 2015 stood at about OMR11.153 billion, down slightly from OMR11.267 billion in 2014.
The value of exports hit about OMR13.404 billion in 2015, falling from OMR20.463 billion in 2014. The foreign trade balance in 2015 was pegged at about OMR2.250 billion, compared with OMR9.195 billion in 2014.
The value of commodity imports in 2015 stood at OMR11.153 billion, compared with OMR11.267 billion in 2014.
NCSI data indicated that the total value of exports hit about OMR13.414 billion in 2015, compared to OMR20.463 billion in 2014. This drop in the value of exports is attributed to a decrease in the value of exports by 34.5 per cent.