SUNRISE INDUSTRIES: Study shows manufacturing sector grew by 661.9 per cent between 1998 and 2015 -
MUSCAT: Manufacturing, tourism, wholesale and retail trade will be the main growth drivers of the Sultanate’s economic development, according to a study of future investment and development conducted by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
Other sunrise industries include logistics and communications, which have seen a boom in the recent past making them an attractive and promising sector with many investment opportunities.
The NCSI study shows that the manufacturing sector, which emerged during the past two decades as one of the growth poles of non-oil economic activities in particular, and the national economy in general, grew by 661.9 per cent between 1998 and 2015. The value of GDP at constant prices (base of 2010) from RO 0.3 billion in 1998 to RO 2.6 billion in 2015 as the preliminary data showed.
Based on the annual growth rates in the GDP of the manufacturing industries, the beginning of the millennium witnessed the biggest and most significant growth rate with the sector remaining steadfast in the face of periods of global instability.
Even in the midst of the global financial crisis, manufacturing industries recorded successive growth in 2008 and 2009.
The study also shows that the structure of investment in manufacturing industries in 2011 was concentrated on non-metallic mineral products, which accounted for 49.4 per cent of total investments in manufacturing industries this year followed by chemical, plastic and glass industries accounting for 24.5 per cent of total investment in 2014, followed by metal products by 11.9 per cent.
As one of the leading promising sectors, tourism is a fertile environment for attracting huge investment in the Sultanate. During the last three years of the study period (2013-2015) statistics show a clear and continuous growth in the number of inbound tourists to the Sultanate.
The gross domestic product at constant prices of wholesale and retail trade increased during the last two decades from about RO 1 billion at the end of 1998 to RO 2.2 billion in the preliminary data for the year 2015.
The statistics show that there is also a clear growth in the gross domestic product at constant prices of the construction sector, which grew by more than 4 times in 2015 compared to 1998, that is, the sector was able to grow over 18 years at an average annual rates of about 12.6 per cent.
The transport, storage and communications activity achieved a growth of about 6 times during the period 1998 and 2015. The contribution of this sector to the GDP at constant prices jumped from RO 284 million in 1998 to RO 1.7 billion in 2015, making it a promising sector with logs of investment opportunities. The study shows that during the period of survey (1998-2015), the sector experienced a boom in long-term growth and impact. Between 2000 and 2008, it achieved positive annual growth rates ranging from about 10 per cent to about 27 per cent. — ONA
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