MUSCAT, May 11 - The government will launch an awareness campaign for local and international investors to promote Oman’s free zones as a brand in the coming months.
According to a report, a specially-established free zones committee is currently working on a draft to be submitted to the Council of Ministers to enable free zone committees to act independently.
“Attracting foreign investment is a key factor to the economy and Oman has taken steps to encourage this by initiating free zones in Salalah, Suhar, Al Mazyouna and Duqm. As a further incentive, 100 foreign ownership of companies within the free zones has been permitted,” a report by the Implementation Support and Follow-up Unit said.
A primary goal of this initiative is to improve regulations and give clarity to Omanisation rates and licence and permit issuance procedures, the report added.
In 2018, there has been a successful easing of visa requirements for targeted investors with all free zones having no issues in issuing
a visa to any investor.
“There has been an increase of 15 per cent in committed investment in Duqm in 2018, while three anchor customers have been confirmed for Salalah, Duqm and Suhar free zones. The brand proposition for all free zones has also been completed,” the report said.
Meanwhile, Yahya bin Saeed al Jabri, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Special Economic Zone Authority at Duqm (SEZAD), signed six agreements to strengthen infrastructure across the SEZ.
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