MUSCAT: The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion (MoCIIP) has clarified that, starting next April, it will be mandatory to employ an Omani employee in the foreign investor’s commercial registry one year after starting to practice the commercial activity, and for him to be registered with the General Authority for Social Insurance, with a commitment to implementing the policy Omanisation followed by the Ministry of Labour.
This comes in 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.
Eng Ammar bin Sulaiman al Kharousi, Director General of the Investment Services Centre at MoCIIP, pointed out that the Ministry had announced on June 18, 2023, 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 extracting 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 said 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. He hopes 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 labour market.
MoCIIP 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 a period of 30 days that may be subject to change to extend the same period for companies to rectify their situations. If this employee is let go, the obligation will be placed on the company in an electronic way, making it easier for the MoCIIP and the Ministry of Labour to follow up on companies that are not committed to Omanisation.
The investment sector in the Sultanate of Oman witnessed, during the last stage, many facilities and simplification of procedures for investors, by allowing the foreign investor to invest and own 100%, and to invest 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. — ONA
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