Tuesday 19 / August / 2025
Muscat: In partnership with a host of government agencies, Ithraa focuses on promoting Oman as a world-class destination for business and a location of choice for potential relocations and expansions.
Ithraa team undertakes both pro-active lead generation and project handling to attract new inward investment from key international markets.
It also supports Omani businesses on all stages of their export journey. Today, Omani products are present in 130+ countries and 2019, with US$8.3 billion worth of non-oil exported commodities.
Ithraa works hard to bring the attention of the international business community to the vast investment opportunities Oman offers, to its exceptional potential in manufacturing, tourism, fisheries, mining and logistics. Ithraa also vigorously promotes the measures that have been taken to create Oman’s attractive business and investment environment.
Attracting and retaining inward investment is hugely important to Oman’s economic ambitions. Ithraa strives to put Oman in a place where business can grow, succeed and thrive. It also strives to put Oman in a place where great ideas and innovations are turned into great products and services. And as the new foreign investment legislation shows, Oman is more determined than ever to deliver the pro-business environment investors require.
Led by Nasima Al Balushi, Ithraa Export Team helps Omani non-oil exporters explore markets around the world. The efforts of the Ithraa Export Team have been helping grow jobs at home, strengthen Oman’s economy, and ensure long-term, sustainable economic growth for nearly 25 years.
Ithraa wants to empower Omani companies to go out and succeed in global markets. It encourages businesses across the country to think big. Ithraa goal is to provide everything an ambitious company needs to succeed in today’s global economy.
Ithraa team works hand-in-hand with local businesses providing market intelligence, organizing trade missions, B2B meetings with international buyers and agents as well as the highly popular and successful OPEX exhibitions that it co-organizes with Oman Chamber of Commerce & Industry (OCCI) and Madayn – the most recent of which was held in Rwanda in early March.
Designed to boost bilateral trade and investment, the four-day Kigali trade show provided 60 Omani exporters with a platform to showcase their products and services to a growing and influential Rwandan business community. The 60 exhibitors met with over 320 Rwandan firms during the B2B sessions we organised. And according to a post-event survey, 24% of the participating Omani firms had already reported securing export orders while 64% are in the process of finalising agreements with Rwandan agents and distributors.
In February, Ithraa took a stand at the highly popular Gulfood exhibition in Dubai – a trade show that attracts 5,000 exhibitors and over 90,000 attendees. It’s exactly the type of event to showcase Oman’s outstanding food and beverage sector. And as result of Ithraa’s participation, post-event research indicates 75% of the firms on the Oman pavilion sealed export deals, one firm securing an export order worth in the region of US$130,000 and another at US$75,000.
At the beginning of the year, and in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture & Fisheries, Ithraa co-organized the Sultanate’s pavilion at the seasonal honey exhibition in Doha. Eleven Omani honey producers participated at the show, 90% of which secured export orders.
The hard work and commitment of Ithraa’s Export Team along with that of its partners are helping ramp-up the presence of Oman made goods and services in markets around the world. From fish, environmentally-friendly fertiliser and polyethylene pipes to steel, pasta, cement, fine ceramic tiles, fibre-optic and electrical cables, Oman is building a strong industrial base.
On the investment front, the health sector has been very much on Ithraa’s radar of late along with opportunities for green investment and those in future-focused technology. Recent examples of Ithraa activity in this regard include a program it organized for a British company researching options for making their environmentally friendly plastic bags locally and one for investors in 4IR technology. At the moment, Ithraa is finalising plans for a post-pandemic visit by an investor looking to set up a hospital specialised in kidney disease here.
Azzan bin Qasim Al-Busaidi, CEO of Ithraa said: “I’m delighted to share that at the end of Q1, we’d registered three US and European investors working in manufacturing, packaging, food industry, tourism and real estate, taking steps to initiate projects in Muscat and Sohar. This is a solid result given the current status of the global investment scene.”
In mid-February and along with senior management from the Public Authority for Mining (PAM) and Minerals Development Oman, Ithraa presented at an investment webinar hosted by Stephanie Hallett, Deputy Chief of Mission at the US Embassy in Muscat. The webinar allowed US businesses to learn more about Oman’s new mining law and the investment opportunities available in this growing sector. PAM has identified new mining investment projects and initiatives estimated at over US$2 billion.
The new legislation provides a far more robust framework for Oman’s mining sector, one that offers incentives, transparency and greater certainty for investors. It also covers PAM's role with regards issuing mining licences and concessions, protecting local communities and the environment, prioritising local employment, as well as enforcing investment commitments.
“In our view, investment interest in Oman’s mining sector is being driven by factors that include: the new legislation, presence of a wide array of geological resources ranging from precious metals to industrial minerals, outstanding support infrastructure and logistics in the form of road networks, free zones, industrial estates and ports and easy access to major international markets,” al-Busaidi pointed out.
He explained that before the outbreak of COVID-19, global commerce was already being hit by a new wave of trade restrictions, actions that were leading to more protectionist measures and increased economic uncertainty, lower investment and weaker trade growth. Big economies such as the European Union, China and the US were already slowing for reasons ranging from the US-China trade spat and Brexit to the disappearing fiscal stimulus from tax cuts in the US.
The Omani government’s strong, well-planned, well-coordinated and well-executed response to the coronavirus crisis show what a steadfast, reliable and resilient country we are,” he affirmed.
With 200 ships calling per week, cargo continues to flows in and out of our three principal gateways in Sohar, Duqm and Salalah, directly linking Omani businesses to 86 ports in 40 countries. That’s business as usual, he added.
“Moving forward and talking post-pandemic, given the wealth of tech talent in the country, a natural progression for us will be a sharper focus on Oman’s growing hi-tech sector, an area that is already getting foreign interest and investment. And given this, I believe we will see a marked increase in the presence of Oman-made tech products and services in international markets,” he furthered.
He said, “With COVID-19 travel restrictions in place, the Invest in Oman portal plays a more important role than ever in connecting investors with opportunities in Oman and showing that in this changing world the attractiveness of our offer remains constant. The portal draws the attention of potential investors to the things that continue to matter to them and things the sultanate has in abundance – like our world-class infrastructure and multilingual, well-trained talent pool, lifestyle and of course our newly-introduced investor-friendly foreign investment legislation. To date, a variety of investment opportunities have been lodged on the Invest in Oman portal. In addition to this, public and private sector organisations, as well as a range of service providers, also have a presence there. It’s a growing community.”
