Saturday 27 / April / 2024
Muscat: The first meeting of the National Team to Combat Hidden Trade was held on Tuesday at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion.
It was represented by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Information, represented by the Government Communication Centre, the Tax Authority, the Central Bank, the Royal Oman Police, the Consumer Protection Authority and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority.
The meeting came to review and discuss the mechanism for implementing the decision to combat hidden trade, review the terms of reference of the national team, and agree on the first phase of implementing the decision to combat hidden trade No. 412/2023 issued by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment Promotion.
The National Team for Combating Hidden Trade works to propose commercial activities that are subject to the oversight process, works to facilitate procedures for implementing the provisions of the Anti-Hidden Trade Decision, each within its field of competence, holds periodic meetings with the technical team to implement the provisions of the decision, follows up and evaluates its work, and receives the reports of the technical team.
The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion calls on the owners of commercial companies to quickly reconcile the status of their commercial records to legalise commercial work, identify active companies, verify the effectiveness of these commercial establishments, and update the commercial database to contribute to reducing hidden trade, as the technical team at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion will begin immediate implementation of the decision.
The decision to combat hidden trade came to contribute to creating an attractive business environment and creating appropriate conditions for it in the Sultanate of Oman by detailing the necessary procedures for registering foreign institutions and companies and specifying the requirements, controls and deadlines necessary for issuing approvals, permits or licenses related to investment projects in implementation of the provisions of the Foreign Capital Investment Law.
It is noteworthy that the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion issued Ministerial Resolution No. (412/2023) regarding combating hidden trade in cooperation with a number of government agencies to reduce hidden trade in the Sultanate of Oman and its economic and social repercussions on business owners and society, and in response to successive appeals from citizens over the past years to stop this phenomenon.
