Muscat - The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion has said that it will be mandatory to employ an Omani employee in the foreign investor’s commercial registry, starting April 2024, one year after starting to practice the commercial activity, and for him to be registered with the Public Authority for Social Insurance (PASI), with a commitment to implementing the policy Omanisation followed by the Ministry of Labor.
This decision follows the implementation of the Council of Ministers’ decision to reduce commercial registration fees for foreign investors and treat them as an Omani investor, with the obligation to employ a minimum of one Omani employee.
Engineer Ammar bin Sulaiman al Kharousi, Director General of the Investment Services Center, pointed out that the Ministry had announced on June 18, 2023, last year, through its electronic platforms, the start of reducing fees for foreign investment companies and obliging them to employ an Omani employee, in addition to placing an alert when the commercial register clarifies the condition for employing the Omani citizen one year after the establishment of the commercial register for the foreign investor.
He explained that the Ministry is making continuous efforts to enhance the attractiveness of the investment environment in the Sultanate of Oman, by removing challenges facing investors, whether local or foreign, and we hope that commercial companies for foreign investors will contribute to enhancing local added value by creating job opportunities for Omani citizens, who represent the backbone. For development, the facilities and incentives provided by government agencies to investors must contribute to effectively improving the labor market.
The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion will begin, on April 1, 2024, to place an administrative obligation prohibiting transactions through the Oman Business Platform on all commercial records of foreign investors that have completed a year since their establishment and have not committed to the appointment, while giving 30 days that may be subject to change.
To extend the same period for companies to rectify their situations, and if this employee is let go, the obligation will be electronically placed on the company, making it easier for the ministry to follow up on companies that are not committed to Omanization.
It is noteworthy that the investment sector in the Sultanate of Oman offers facilities, including simplification of procedures by allowing foreign investors to invest and own 100 percent in more than 1,700 commercial and industrial activities in the Sultanate of Oman through the Oman Business Platform, and reducing, canceling and merging 836 government services.
Oman Observer is now on the WhatsApp channel. Click here
