Muscat: Qais Mohammed Al Yousef, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion affirmed that the ministry, in cooperation with other departments concerned, has been working to offer a set of incentives to boost the contribution of other relative sectors in the ministry.
During the 13th regular session for the 3rd sitting of the Shura Council, the minister lauded the cooperation between the Shura Council and the government under the leadership of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik.
Al Yousef pointed out that the contribution of service activities to the GDP increased by 50.20% to reach about RO 16,571.4 million until the end of December 2021 and that the contribution of wholesale and retail trade amounted to about 8.60% as a result of the gradual opening of the service activities sectors. The total trade exchange of the Sultanate of Oman with the countries of the world increased by 47.1% to reach RO 28,986.234 million until the end of 2021.
He added that the number of business registrations recorded with the ministry stood at 349,894 until the end of December 2021. Meanwhile, the total transactions completed through the "Invest Easy" portal amounted to 789,493 transactions in 2021, constituting an increase by 39.03% compared to 2020.
Al Yousef said that during the beginning of the tenth five-year development plan, the contribution of the manufacturing sector to the GDP amounted to 9.70% until December 2021, with a total of RO 3,195.600 million. Further, the growth rate of industrial activities was 13.6%. The manufacturing sector recorded a remarkable increase by 9.70%.
He said that during 2021, the manufacturing sector contributed an added value of RO 3,000.2 million to the economy, representing 9.7% of the GDP, which amounted to RO 33 billion in the same year.
Non-oil merchandise, Al Yousef added, grew from RO 3.03 billion to RO 5.79 billion, while total merchandise exports grew from RO 11.73 billion to RO 17.06 billion.
He said that the value of direct foreign investments in the manufacturing sector until the end of the third quarter of 2021 reached RO 1,584.9 million. The oil and gas sector contributed by 67.8% of the total foreign direct investments, and the manufacturing sector ranked second with 9.2%. The financial intermediary sector followed with 8.8%, real estate, rental activities and commercial projects contributed 7.1%, while other sectors recorded 7.1%.
Work is underway to launch 28 investment opportunities in various activities with the aim of finding investment opportunities in the industrial sector and presenting them to investors, Al Yousef said.
He added that a number of incentives have been offered to attract foreign investments and improve operation levels, particularly allowing business, commercial and investment activities to be carried out by obtaining an initial license, treating foreign investment companies as national companies and granting residency to investors, as well as incentives of the job market and employment incentives.
Al Yousef indicated that work is currently underway to establish an "Invest in Oman" centre that brings together 13 authorities concerned with investments in the Sultanate of Oman to receive investors, register them in a database, introduce them to the available opportunities and direct them to the departments concerned. This centre will be opened during this year. Moreover, legislations are currently being worked on to regulate work in small and medium enterprises (SME), including street vendors, home businesses, and self-employment.
Meanwhile, the session which was chaired by Khalid Hilal al Maawali, Chairman of the Shura Council, covered a spectrum of topics, namely the ministry’s vision for the future of industry and evaluating the contribution of the commerce and industry sectors in the GDP, among others.
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