Oman–UAE economic ties set for major leap

Oman's private sector is upbeat about the positive impact that the visit of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, will have Omani-UAE business and economic relations.

In remarks to Oman News Agency (ONA), a number of Omani businesspersons expressed their aspirations that this visit will contribute to opening new horizons of economic cooperation and trade partnership and provide more facilities and incentives that lead to increased trade exchange and joint investment partnerships between the two sides.

Eng Redha bin Juma al Saleh, Chairman of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), explained that the Sultanate of Oman and UAE are proceeding with visions and steady steps towards achieving success to increase investment opportunities and trade exchange, and provide facilities and incentives encouraging investment, in addition to working to achieve trade partnerships in various economic sectors that serve the economies of the two brotherly countries.

He added that the relations between two countries are an extension of the bonds of neighborhood and kinship that unite the peoples of the two countries, which are constantly developing relations in various fields, as the two sides seek to discover and promote investment opportunities, and overcome difficulties in commercial partnerships between business owners.

He pointed out that there are investment opportunities and incentives that contribute to the development of trade and investment relations, as there are many trade partnerships between the two brotherly countries, pointing out that the value of Omani exports to the United Arab Emirates has reached more than RO 1.3 billion n 2021, while the value of imports from the UAE amounted to more than RO 4.2 billion In terms of the volume of UAE investments recorded in the Sultanate of Oman in 2021, Al Saleh said that the total contribution of the UAE is about RO 1.207 billion (42 per cent of the total), and these investments are distributed among about 3071 companies, most of which are concentrated in the commercial, construction, industry, real estate, services and transport sectors.

For her part, Lujaina bint Mohsin bin Haider Darwish, Member of the State Council and CEO of Mohsin Haider Darwish Group, said that there are social, cultural, political and economic relations linking Oman with the UAE, the most important characteristic of which is the convergence and geographical overlap based on ties of origin, blood, descent, language, religion, good neighbourliness and social ties, so commercial and economic relations with the Emirati brothers are growing increasingly thanks to the guidance of the wise leadership of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik and His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates. She explained that as businesspersons in the Sultanate of Oman, they feel more facilities are anticipating during the coming period as trade exchange between the two countries is witnessed an upsurge.

Shaikh Ghanim bin Taher al Bathari, Chairman of Al Baraka Petroleum Services Company and Sakan Facilities Management Company, said that the visit of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan, President of the United Arab Emirates, carries great indications of the depth of brotherly relations between the two countries at the official and popular levels. The two brotherly countries enjoy exceptional relations built by the late Sultan Qaboos bin Said and Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan based on a historical and cultural heritage that binds the two brotherly countries, not to mention the factors of geography, blood and descent that are almost not devoid of any home in the Sultanate of Oman and the United Arab Emirates.

He added: "The efforts of the two brotherly countries in developing these relations at various levels have had a clear impact in strengthening, benefiting from them and harnessing them for the prosperity of the two peoples, as many statistics indicate, as the United Arab Emirates is today the most invested Arab country in the Sultanate of Oman while Omanis are the most visited to the UAE ever according to last year's statistics.

He explained that the visit of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed to his brother His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik is welcomed and appreciated by all, who are confident that the visit will move brotherly bilateral relations to a new stage of cooperation in various fields, which will benefit the two brotherly peoples.

Mustafa bin Ahmed Salman, CEO of United Securities Company, said that the landmark visit will work to increase trade exchange between the two brotherly countries, and will also constitute a good support for most of the large investment projects that are hoped to benefit the economies of the two countries, praising the economic relations between the two countries and joint projects.

He added that the UAE is the largest trading partner of the Sultanate of Oman, which confirms the strength of relations between the two countries. He expressed his hope that the coming period will witness the provision of more facilities on the Omani-Emirati border.

Areej bint Mohsin bin Haider Darwish, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Automotive, Construction Equipment and Renewable Energy Group at Mohsin Haider Darwish Company, explained that Omani-Emirati relations have a long history – the legacy of generations of good relations and the result of the keenness of the wise leaders of Oman and the UAE to continuously upgrade the ways of cooperation in various fields.

She said that the UAE business community is a key trading partner and we look forward to increasing investment opportunities, facilities and incentives between the two parties to take bilateral relations towards wider and wider horizons.