Wednesday 30 / October / 2024
Muscat: Yahya bin Said Al Jabri, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Special Economic Zone Authority in Duqm (Sezad) and the Chair of the Authority for Investment Promotion and Export Development (Ithraa) held a number of meetings with Russian government institutions and companies.
The meetings aimed at attracting them to invest in the Sultanate in general and the Special Economic Zone in Duqm (SEZD) in particular. This was part of the promotional campaign held in the Russian capital Moscow.
He met with Alexei Rakhmanov, President of the Russian United Shipbuilding Company. During the meeting, Al Jabri presented the Russian official with an overview of SEZD and its infrastructure projects, especially the multi-purpose Port of Duqm and the current and future heavy industry projects there.
During the meeting, Al Jabri also invited Rakhmanov to invest in the Sultanate in general and SEZD in particular, stressing that Sezad will provide various facilities needed by the Russian giant company to invest in Duqm.
The Russian United Shipbuilding Company, established in 2007, is the largest shipbuilding company in Russia, which has about 40 shipyards with design offices and repair yards. It employs more than 95,000 workers.
Russian investment fund
Al Jabri also discussed opportunities for cooperation with the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), a Russian sovereign fund that allocates 20 per cent of its investments to projects outside Russia. He briefed the RDIF officials on SEZD, its current projects and potentials, the investment environment and incentives provided by Sezad and the elements of its success.
During the meeting, Al Jabri stressed Sezad keenness to increase investment in Duqm and attract Russian companies to invest in it.
He reviewed a number of projects implemented in SEZD, such as Duqm Refinery, the Sino-Omani Industrial City, Small India Project and many other projects.
On his part, Tagir Sitdekov, First Deputy CEO of the Fund, gave an overview of RDIF and its investments inside and outside Russia and pointed out that RDIF has joint investments in Russia in cooperation with several GCC countries.
Sitdekov stressed during the meeting the readiness of RDIF to finance Russian projects in SEZD.
Meeting with VTB Bank
Al Jabri also met with a number of officials from VTB Bank Group, which consists of more than 20 credit institutions and financial companies that facilitate international partnerships and encourage Russian companies to invest abroad.
During the meeting, they discussed the investment opportunities that the bank can finance in SEZD. Al Jabri presented the officials of the VTB Group an idea about SEZD and current and future projects therein. He also urged the Russian Financial Group to contribute to the financing of investment projects in SEZD.
The promotional campaign in Moscow was well received by Russian companies attending the "Invest in Duqm" seminar. During bilateral meetings with representatives of Omani companies working in Duqm, they expressed their desire to know more about the Omani market and its investment opportunities.
The campaign, which took place from June 13 to 15, is part of Sezad's quest to explore the Russian market and present Duqm to the Russian business community as a promising region offering good investment opportunities for the Russian companies.
