2023-03-20
Oman Investment Authority (OIA) Offers OMR +1.5 Billion in Investment Opportunities
Mandated with the mission to ‘enhance the national investment environment and attract investments to the Sultanate’ by Royal Decree No. 57/2022, Oman Investment Authority has recently announced 36 investment opportunities worth OMR 1.5 billion, available in the Invest Oman lounge, and covering various industries. The announcement comes as a translation of the government directives to boost investments via the Invest OMAN Lounge and to help resolve any challenges.
In an interview published in OIA’s first quarter 2023 newsletter "Injaz & Ijaz", Hisham Ahmed Al-Sheedi, Director General of Economic Diversification at OIA, said that these investment opportunities will potentially ensure better alignment and synergy between OIA and other government and private entities. He noted that the opportunities are distributed across several key investment sectors, including technology, utilities (electricity), tourism, fisheries, and food, as well as mining and health.
Al-Sheedi pointed out that the investments on offer are just an initial list that is likely to increase based on the current and future viability studies. Whenever OIA or one of its companies identifies an available investment opportunity, it will be presented directly to investors at the lounge. He also noted that specialists in the lounge will explain investment opportunities to the investor as a first step. If the opportunity initially appeals to them, the specialists will link the investors with the OIA team to take the necessary steps, which include a discussion session with the investors, answering their inquiries, and ultimately reaching an agreement mechanism with them.
The list features numerous IT projects such as programming, engineering solutions, and blockchains, in addition to tourism projects including the 3rd phase of Yiti and Yankit Sustainable City, a multi-facility entertainment destination in Barka, and a Logistic Gate project at the Economic Free Zone within Muscat International Airport. There are also several food security and fisheries projects, including fish and shrimp farming, the fattening of tuna in large floating cages, three factories for canning and packaging marine products, and the production of fish feed. The list also includes mining projects such as industrial minerals, copper, magnesium, and silicon.
The newsletter also highlighted the Al-Ansab Five Lagoons (Wetland) project managed by Nama Water Services Co. and its role in enhancing environmental sustainability by creating a habitat for more than 300 recorded species of plants and birds, including the flamingo, ducks, egrets, and bee eaters. Furthermore, the newsletter talks about the initiative launched by Oman Airports Management Co. (OAMC) to install Omani frankincense resin evaporators at three airports—Muscat International Airport, Salalah Airport, and Duqm Airport as a gesture to celebrate an ancient Omani heritage with a modern touch, offering visitors the opportunity to get acquainted with the Land of Frankincense and promote Omani products to global audiences.
To celebrate the accomplishments of OIA companies, the newsletter dedicated a section to the achievements of the National Pharmaceutical Industries Co. (SAOC) for receiving the accreditation of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), opening doors for its products into US markets.