Tuesday 03 / February / 2026
Muscat: Oman Investment Authority (OIA) has launched four major projects during the first month of the 11th Five-Year Plan, with total investments exceeding OMR935 million.
These projects are expected to provide more than 1,850 job opportunities, reaffirming the Authority’s strategic presence in the manufacturing sector as a primary driver for achieving the objectives of Oman Vision 2040.
This initiative stems from a series of international partnerships implemented by OIA-affiliated companies, alongside direct investments that contribute to localising technologies and strengthening local supply chains.
These efforts are part of ongoing endeavors to support economic diversification and enhance local content within the target sectors of the 11th Five-Year Plan, specifically manufacturing, tourism, and the digital economy.
Among the most prominent of these projects is the completion of financing for the United Solar project, supported by a contribution from the Future Fund Oman.
The project involves the establishment of an integrated plant for the production of polysilicon in the Sohar Freezone, which serves as the company’s largest facility of its kind outside of the People’s Republic of China.
The investment value of the project stands at OMR700 million (approximately USD 1.8 billion), making it one of the largest industrial investments in the renewable energy sector in the region.
A joint financing agreement was concluded between United Solar Polysilicon (a subsidiary of United Solar Holding), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), and several regional and local banks. The project will enable the Sultanate of Oman to enter the global solar energy supply chain by localizing advanced technologies, enhancing local content, and providing 1,012 direct job opportunities in engineering, manufacturing, maintenance, and technical services related to clean energy.
In the maritime industries sector, the Asyad Group launched a project to manufacture the first integrated marine tugboat within the Sultanate of Oman. A tripartite agreement was signed between Asyad Drydock, Oman Liquefied Natural Gas Company (Oman LNG), and the international company Svitzer.
This project contributes to the creation of several direct job opportunities, in addition to indirect opportunities within the supply chains and technical services associated with ports. The local content contribution for this project is expected to reach approximately 50 percent of its total value.
The project aims to develop national capabilities in maritime manufacturing and advanced logistics by establishing a production system that relies on local resources and national technical expertise, while facilitating knowledge transfer from the international partner to Omani cadres.
This project represents a pioneering step towards localising maritime industries and raising technical and operational readiness in Omani ports, reflecting the Authority’s commitment to stimulating industrial innovation and enhancing Oman’s competitiveness as a regional hub for advanced industries and logistics.
Hisham Ahmed Al Shidi, Head of Economic Diversification Investments at OIA, stated that these projects represent a new milestone in the series of measures implemented by the Authority over the past five years to elevate the national development portfolio.
He noted that the Authority aims through these projects to maximise the outcomes of synergy initiatives between its subsidiaries, enhance local content, create new job opportunities, and localise advanced technologies in service of the economic pillar of Oman Vision 2040.
In the context of supporting advanced petrochemical industries and expanding high-value manufacturing, OQ Group and Sohar Freezone launched a qualitative project to localise advanced technologies in this vital sector.
OQ Refineries and Petroleum Industries, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the German company MAK. The project aims to enable local production of materials used in basic and final industries, enhancing Oman’s readiness to serve as a competitive regional industrial hub for petrochemicals and specialty chemicals. The goal is to establish an integrated industrial complex in the Sohar Freezone for the production of Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) and Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), which are essential materials in the packaging industry, particularly for consumer products such as water and beverage bottles and industrial packaging.
The plant’s annual production capacity is set at 700,000 tonnes of PTA and PET, with 425,000 tons of Para-xylene as a primary input.
The total investment value of the project exceeds OMR192 million (USD 500 million), contributing to the creation of approximately 700 direct job opportunities and additional indirect opportunities within the local supply chain.
This project strengthens Oman’s ability to achieve import substitution, localise supply chains for advanced plastic industries, and support the growth of small and medium enterprises in this field, while maximising local content and expanding the non-oil industrial export base.
Additionally, OQ Base Industries launched a project to establish a specialty chemicals plant in the Salalah Freezone through an agreement with Deepak, a company from the Republic of India.
The project involves the supply of ammonia as a raw material for the production of sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite, with a production capacity of 70,000 tonnes per year. This project complements the industrial ecosystem in Salalah by leveraging advanced infrastructure and the port’s strategic location, thereby enhancing export opportunities to regional and international markets.
The estimated investment value of the project exceeds OMR38 million (USD 110 million) and is expected to provide 150 direct job opportunities. The project aims to support the specialty chemicals sector in Oman, particularly those used in pharmaceutical and agricultural fertilizer industries, while enhancing national industrial and pharmaceutical security and providing broad avenues for technology transfer and the development of specialised Omani competencies.
These projects serve as an extension of the pivotal role undertaken by Oman Investment Authority in implementing the 11th Five-Year Plan and increasing the contribution of the non-oil industrial sector to the Gross Domestic Product. These efforts highlight the Authority’s commitment to economic sustainability, the integration of its subsidiaries, and the consolidation of Oman’s position as a regional center for advanced industries in energy, chemicals, and industrial services.
