Oman's FDI increases by 5.9%

Muscat: Foreign direct investment in Oman for the first quarter of 2020 crossed OMR15 billion, an increase of 5.9 per cent compared to the same time period for the previous year.

The total volume of FDIs to the country came to OMR15.064 billion, for the first three months of 2020, compared to OMR14.213 billion for this period in 2019, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

In terms of volumes of FDIs, the UK ranked first, with OMR 7.54 billion, up from OMR7.396 million, followed by the United States (OMR1.794 billion in the first quarter of 2020, compared to OMR1.758 billion for the corresponding period last year).
The United Arab Emirates also has significant foreign investment in Oman, at OMR1.208 billion, compared to OMR1.164 billion for the first quarter of 2019. Fourth on the list is another member of the Gulf Cooperation Council: Kuwait accounted for OMR916.8 million in FDIs for the first quarter of 2020, in comparison to OMR835.3 million for the same timeframe in 2019.

Bahrain’s investments in Oman rose from OMR389.9 million in the first quarter of 2019, to OMR402.3 million in the first quarter of 2020. China’s FDI values for the first three months of 2020 were OMR760 million, up from OMR75 million for this period in 2019, while Qatar’s investments totalled OMR372.8 million, rising from OMR344.4 million. Investments from India came to OMR323.1 million, increasing from OMR320.7 million.

FDI values from the Netherlands added up to OMR304.7 million, a steady increase from the OMR298.5 million that were invested into the country in the first three months of 2019.

Investments from Switzerland represented another OMR260.4, an increase from the first quarter of last year, which was OMR251.1 million.

Investments from other countries around the world, for the first three months of 2020, accumulated to a total of OMR1.176 billion, down from OMR1.378 billion for the same time period in 2019.

The maximum amount of foreign investment went into the oil and gas sector (OMR9.69 billion, up from OMR9.5 billion), followed by the manufacturing sector, which saw OMR 1.695 billion in investment, up from OMR 1.635 billion.

In the financial sector, Oman received OMR1.362 billion in investment, the same as was invested in this field for the corresponding period last year. Real estate activities saw an investment of OMR1.14 billion, up from OMR724.7 million for the first three months of 2019.

Other economic activities in Oman saw a total investment of OMR1.302 billion, up from OMR990.9 million for the first quarter of 2019.