Saturday 20 / April / 2024
Muscat: The Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) said that the number of electronic transactions conducted through the "Invest Easy" portal from the beginning of January till the end of December 2018 reached 320,811, which is a massive increase over the 137,333 reached during the same period in 2017.
These transactions consisted of new registrations, renewals, modification, cancellations and addition of activities and changes in commercial names, commercial and personal import permits, certificates of origin and commercial agencies.
The increase in the number of transactions in 2018 was due to investors' interest in using personal electronic services. The electronic portal has helped in the speedy processing of applications. It has clarity in the procedures and saves time and efforts, as well as increases investors’ confidence.
The Ministry revealed that 39,943 transactions were done in Muscat Governorate last year, compared with just 15,587 transactions in 2017. In North Al Batinah, there were 81,494 transactions conducted in 2018 compared to 25,884 in the year 2017.
Similarly, there were 20,337 transactions done in Al Buraimi Governorate last year compared with 18,143 transactions in 2017, and Al Dhahirah Governorate saw 50,094 last year compared with 19,255 in the year 2017. The South Al Sharqiyah Governorate did 21,358 transactions in the year 2018 compared with 16,820 in 2017.
In Al Dakhiliyah Governorate, there were 40,151 transactions done in 2018 compared with 17,159 in the previous year. There were 29,814 electronic transactions done in Dhofar Governorate in 2018 compared with 9,682 transactions recorded in 2017. In North Al Sharqiyah, there were 16,335 transactions done last year compared with 6,716 in the year 2017. South Al Bathinah conducted 5,487 transactions in 2018 compared with 2,766 in the year 2017.
There were 14,419 transactions done in Musandam Governorate last year compared with 4,184 in 2017. In Al Wusta Governorate, 1,368 transactions were done last year compared with 1,128 transactions in the year 2017. In addition to this, there were 11 transactions done in 2018 in the Public Authority for Investment Promotion and Export Development (Ithra) in 2018 compared with just nine in the year 2017.
