The direct road between the Sultanate of Oman and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that is expected to be open for traffic soon will be a milestone in the bilateral history of the Sultanate of Oman, according to the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) Chairman.
Speaking to the Observer, Redha bin Juma al Saleh, Chairman of OCCI, said that the existing bilateral relations will see a mammoth leap once the 800 kilometres long road is operational.
"The Oman-Saudi desert highway will be a milestone in the history of the bilateral relations between the two nations and we are expecting them to take a quantum leap in the days to come. It is a strategically important carriageway," he said.
The recently held Oman-Saudi bilateral talks high-level talks had discussed the issue of accelerating the procedures for opening the land border linking both countries through the Empty Quarter.
The desert road starts at Tanam in Ibri Wilayat and ends at the Omani border, about 160km away. On the Saudi side, it runs for a further 550 km before linking up with the key Batha-Haradh highway leading to Riyadh.
He added that since people can travel from Saudi and other places to Oman and back once this 800 kms road is a reality, it will be easy for them to enhance trade, exchange, tourists, visitors and many projects that are poised to come up along the road which is expected to be open before the end of the year.
A large number of tradesmen and other SME depend upon goods movement from and through KSA and this mega project is going to accentuate their development plans as well.
"Almost all merchandise that we import from the GCC or elsewhere depends on road movement between Oman and Saudi. This road has been a dream project and I want to salute the authorities who initiated this a reality," Bakhit al Araimi, who has businesses in Muscat as well as Buraimi told the Observer.
Touted as an architectural marvel, the new road is expected to cut travel time by around 12 hours and the journey by around 800 kilometres.
The existing route of 1,640 kilometres that passes through the territory of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) takes anything between 16 and18 hours to cover. Accordingly, this will also prove to be a safer, shorter and more convenient alternative to the existing road that motorists must navigate to reach Saudi Arabia.
In order to accelerate the growth, the Oman Oil Marketing Company has recently opened a comprehensive service station on the road to Saudi Arabia at Wadi al Haitham in Al Dhahirah Governorate.
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