Ten years after the Sultanate and the United States signed the Free Trade Agreement (FTA), more than 100 American companies were established in the Sultanate.
After this, exports and imports increased and trade exchange between the two touched $3.7 billion in 2018.
Speaking to the Observer at an event organised to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the FTA, Qais bin Mohammed al Yousef, Chairman of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), said that different case studies and franchisee experiences are clear indication to the growth.
Ever since the FTA was established, both sides were keen to enrich and fortify it. Today, over 100 US companies are functioning in the Sultanate, and our trade went high touching almost $4 billion, he said.
“We hope to see more such fruitful relations which help nourish the FTA in the future, and the case studies of people who have succeeded in exports, imports and bringing franchise from the US and their success stories which were shared here are signposts to a fruitful relation,” Al Yousef added.
The FTA between the Sultanate and the United States was signed in January 2009 with the aim of increasing trade and joint investment between the two countries and opening doors for national products to enter the markets.
The celebration organised by the US Embassy in the Sultanate and the OCCI was attended by a number of top officials including Mark J Severs, US Ambassador to the Sultanate, officials of the OCCI, board members, besides a number of Omani and American business owners.
Omani enterprises and entrepreneurs who have had successful experiences and benefited from the FTA shared their experiences as well.
Al Yousef pointed out that the FTA between the Sultanate and the United States reflects the historical and political relations spanning more than 200 years since the Omani Ambassador Ahmed bin Nu’man al Kaabi’s trip to the US in 1841.
The agreement contributed to the coverage of a wide range of goods and services, and enhanced intellectual property rights, as well as opened doors for Omani trade by offering many advantages business in the US duty-free markets, and provided opportunities for future partnership with US companies.
Bilateral trade relations between the two countries have begun to recover recently.
While the imports to the Sultanate registered a growth rate of 52.8 per cent last year, the growth of exports reached 89.2 per cent during the same period.
“The US Embassy in the Sultanate seeks to promote trade exchange between the United States and the Sultanate by utilising the facilities and incentives represented by the agreement. We continue to explore ways to improve business between and how to further benefit from it in increasing the volume of trade exchange between the two countries”, Mark said.
He added that the agreement since its signing in the last 10 years has effectively contributed to raising the rates of trade between the two countries
significantly, as it contributed to bringing US companies closer to Omani companies and contributed to the existence of real partnerships between the two sides.
“The FTA is an exclusive club to trade with the US. We have signed up with our American
counterparts and convinced them that Oman is a strategic place to do business with and as a result, they have
established themselves and invested money in Oman by sharing knowledge and expertise
with us and we have been supporting regional businesses”,
Talal al Subhi, Member, Board of Directors, Oman American Busines Center, said.
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