MUSCAT: The Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (Madayn) has reported impressive growth across its industrial cities, with a significant 30% rise in investment requests during the first half of 2024.
Eng Dawood bin Salem al Haddabi, CEO of Madayn, highlighted that the number of investment requests reached 184 by June 2024, compared to 141 during the same period last year. This surge reflects the growing investor confidence in Oman’s industrial landscape.
The total volume of investments in Madayn’s industrial cities climbed to RO 7.6 billion, marking a 2.3% growth compared to RO 7.4 billion at the close of 2023. This equates to an additional RO 177 million in investments. Of this, industrial investments alone accounted for RO 151 million, with non-industrial projects contributing RO 62 million. Sohar Industrial City recorded the highest jump, adding RO 53 million in new investments.
The number of investment contracts stood at 2,310 as of June 2024, reflecting a modest 0.65% increase from the end of 2023. The contracts spanned a variety of sectors: 70% were industrial, 12.6% commercial, 7.3% service-related, 4.8% technical, and 5.3% fell under other categories.
Employment across Madayn’s investments grew by 10%, now encompassing 55,000 workers compared to 50,000 at the end of 2022. Omanization in these projects reached 38%, with 81% of the workforce employed in the industrial sector.
Eng Al Haddabi also noted a slight 0.30% rise in rented industrial space, with 33.7 million square metres leased as of mid-2024. The occupancy rate of rentable areas across developed and undeveloped spaces stood at 35%. Additionally, Madayn issued 297 permits for service providers and 889 activity licenses, underscoring the rapid pace of development in the industrial cities.
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