Foreign direct investment in Sultanate at RO 15.4 billion

MUSCAT: The total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Sultanate at the end of the second quarter of 2020 stood at RO 15.4 billion, recording an increase by 13.2 per cent compared to the same period of 2019, when it was RO 13.6 billion. The foreign investment flow in Oman reached RO 1,797.9 million, according to the data on the preliminary results of the performance of FDI issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

UK on top

The United Kingdom ranked first for its FDI in Oman at the end of the second quarter of 2020 with RO 7,808.3 million, up from RO 7,084.2 million in the same period of 2019; followed by the United States of America, with RO 1,818.9 million, an increase from RO 1,675.7 million in the same period of 2019; and then by the United Arab Emirates, with an amount of RO 1,265.2 million, compared to RO 1,166.1 million at the end of the second quarter of 2019.

The FDI from Kuwait reached RO 933.5 million, compared to RO 826.9 million, and that of China reached RO 848.5 million, up from RO 75 million. The FDI from Bahrain at the end of the second quarter of 2020 reached RO 436.1 million compared to RO 391.2 million at the same period of 2019, and that from Qatar reached RO 404.8 million, up from RO 345.4 million.

The investments of India in Oman until the end of the second quarter of 2020 reached RO 317.5 million, followed by the Netherlands at RO 337.4 million, up from RO 298.7 million in the same period of 2019.

The FDI from Switzerland reached RO 280 million compared to RO 229.3 million in 2019 while the investments of other countries in Oman till the end of the second quarter of 2020 reached RO 998.7 million, declining from RO 1,226.7 million in the same period of 2019.

The NCSI data also show that the FDI in oil and gas extraction activities in Oman acquired RO 9.89 billion, up from RO 9 billion in the same period of 2019 while the FDI in the manufacturing sector at the end of the second quarter of 2020 reached RO 1.55 billion, a fall from RO 1.64 billion in 2019.

The data point out that FDI in the financial intermediation sector in the Sultanate till the end of the second quarter of 2020 reached RO 1.42 billion, which is the same figure as that of the same period of 2019 while the foreign investment in the real estate sector activities in the Sultanate till the end of the second quarter of 2020 reached RO 1.14 billion, increasing from RO 719.5 million in 2019.

The foreign investment in other activities in Oman till the end of the second quarter of 2020 reached RO 1.42 billion, increasing from RO 904.7 million in the same period of 2019.

— ONA