Opportunity to invest in Oman: Sayyid Shihab

Muscat: Invest in Oman Forum, organised by Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for Arab Countries started at Grand Millennium Hotel yesterday under the sponsorship of His Highness Sayyid Shihab bin Tariq Al Said.
Speaking at the two-day forum, Sayyid Shihab bin Tariq Al Said, said that the Sultanate is an attractive destination for investment due to its strategic location, investor friendly legislation and business environment, having many investment opportunities and diversification of income in the Sultanate.
He hoped that the Forum will review all the available investment fields and opportunities in the Sultanate and that the local and foreign private sector originations will play a bigger role in enhancing and diversifying the Sultanate’s income.
Sultan bin Salim Al Habsi, Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Planning delivered a speech where he said that the forum is held on the backdrop of a number of unprecedented regional and international developments since the global financial crisis in 2008 and the continuous fluctuation of oil prices ; the key driver of many economies.
He added that oil price dropped by more than 70 per cent since mid-2014 resulting in decrease of exports by about $390 billion or 17.5 per cent of the GDP in 2015.
He pointed out that the surpluses in the general budgets of the GCC states have reversed to deficits which may reach 12.75% of the GDP in 2016 and to continue at about 7% on the medium run despite the great measures taken to reduce deficit.
On his part, Said bin Saleh Al Kayoumi, Chairman of OCCI said “The Sultanate is fully aware of the cut throat competition at the market to attract investments. It also realises that the progress made in this area is closely linked to the incentives and facilities provided to investors.
“To this end, it has provided the conducive environment for attracting local and foreign investments. It also provided a wide range of incentives and facilities and approved a number of investor friendly laws and regulations. Moreover, the investors in the Sultanate will benefit from the strategic location, modern infrastructure , natural resources and qualified human resources.”