Invest Easy, the Oman government’s one-stop window to facilitate the clearance of registrations licensing and permits, has so far issued over 286,000 licenses since it was launched about 18 months ago, according to the Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion Qais bin Mohammed al Yousef (pictured) said the Invest Easy portal, coupled with other initiatives currently in various stages of implementation, are designed to help enhance the investment and business environment for local and foreign players in the Sultanate of Oman.
“Via Invest Easy, investors can obtain licences from 18 leading authorities and approval for more than 1,500 economic activities — in one single e-transaction,” said Al Yousef.
“Since the launch of the new licensing service in April 2021, over 286,000 licences have been issued — 38,000 of them to international investors.
Addressing the Oman-Switzerland Friendship Forum on Wednesday, Al Yousef said the number of licenses processed by Invest Easy has risen nearly 30 percent year-on-year — a testament to the government’s efforts to create a more enterprise-friendly environment, he noted.
Importantly, a further two initiatives are being rolled out to strengthen Oman’s investment appeal globally. One is an ‘Invest in Oman’ centre — a full-fledged facility launched by the Minister later this year.
Conceived as a one-stop shop, the Invest in Oman centre will fast-track approvals for new projects. “It will (ii) facilitate connections with all the resources and tools needed to make investment decisions; and (ii) Provide specialist advisory services on legislation and tax regulations, labour issues, permit procedures and government incentives,” said Al Yousef.
The second initiative, known as the National Programme for Investment & Export Development (Nizdaher), has been created to support “international and domestic prospects establish, roll out and expand their commercial footprint”, said the Minister.
Nizdaher, which was launched in March 2021, along with Invest Easy and other initiatives, will help “accelerate the new era of inward investment and domestic growth” ushered in by the government of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik, he said.
Significantly, the international community’s response to these initiatives, fiscal reforms and innovative policies, has been “encouraging”, Al Yousef said. He cited in this regard the upbeat ratings issued by a number of international agencies, as well as positive reports by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
In particular, the Economic Stimulus Plan (ESP) rolled out by the government just over a year ago has been well-received by the investor community, he said.
Supporting it is a set of economic and financial plans designed to increase private sector resilience, as well as attract investment and talent. Besides offering tax incentives, fee reductions and waivers, the stimulus plan also slashes land rents and enables foreign companies to own land over 5,000 sq metres for commercial and residential purposes.
“And in an effort to ease entry into the private sector, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry & Investment Promotion in tandem with the Ministry of Finance earlier this year reduced fees for 30 business services, some by as much as 95 per cent. To give an example of what this means in real terms — the fee to obtain an industrial license was slashed from $2,300 to $130. Moreover, it is possible to rent land on one of our fully developed industrial estates at around $2 per square metre per year,” he stated.
Furthermore, new businesses setting up operations before the end of 2022 in designated sectors supporting economic diversification have to pay no corporate tax for the next five years, Al Yousef added.
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