author - oman observer

MAJOR BENEFITS: Omani frankincense, Al Jabali goats, Dhofar cows, indigenous lemons, thyme, halwa, pomegranate and rose water are among a wide range of appellations of origin and geographical...

Executive regulations: While upstream and midstream activities are zero-rated for VAT, downstream activities likely to be standard rated at 5 per cent Oil & Gas activities will be zero-rated for...

Ceilings: Newly published Executive Regulations place caveats on the value of freebies or promotional items given away by a taxable supplier during a tax year Free samples and promotional freebies...

Humanitarian project: More than 27,000 workers were repatriated, while around 11,000 stranded oilfield personnel returned to Oman on board 133 special charter flights organised by OPAL last...

Leading French fisheries port operator SEM Lorient Keroman says it is committed to sharing its vaunted expertise in fishing, ship repair and land management in the development of an integrated...

A broad range of services provided by banking and financial institutions, as well as the healthcare and education sectors, have been either tax-exempt or zero-rated for Value Added Tax (VAT) when it...

Dhofar Fisheries & Food Industries Co SAOG (DFFICO) says it plans to invest in a full-fledged fish processing factory at the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Duqm, anchored by a sardine cannery plant...

PTTEP, the state-owned international energy conglomerate of Thailand, says it sees Oman playing an increasingly important role in its long-term growth and sustainability strategy within the Middle...

Key milestones: Construction of the sugar refinery will commence around mid-year, while work on a food processing cluster will kick off before the year-end Construction work on a long-awaited sugar...

HEALTHCARE INVESTMENT Spanish partners back 70-bed specialty hospital, first of its kind assisted reproduction, genetics unit Oman & Emirates Investment Holding Company SAOG (O&E), a joint...

Resilient networks: Signalling attacks, distributed denial-of-service (DDOS), web application attacks, and user profiling, endpoint and behavioural incidents among a flood of threats tackled by...

Operational revamp: Establishment of Oman Fishing Fleet Company and Value Added Processing Company envisaged as part of restructuring of Sultanate’s oldest fisheries...

Auto approval: “Of a total of around 1,800 economic activities regulated by the ministry, we are trying to come up with around 1,200 activities that (investors) can immediately start their...

‘New element in Economic Stimulus Plan allows foreign companies to own land of over 5,000 sq metres or leased land which is either commercial or commercial / residential or tourism or industrial...

NEW PLAYERS: Competition intensifies amid a crowded playing field A wave of investments in flour milling and grain silo capacity, spawned by a drive to strengthen Oman’s food security, has led to...

Key commitments: During the initial exploration period of three years, Maha Energy’s contractual obligations include interpretation and reprocessing of 3D seismic and drilling of 10 shallow...

Sectoral milestone: When it commenced operations in 1996, Manah power project set up by United Power Company became the Middle East’s first privately funded and operated power plant United Power...

Sharp declines: Steep drop in passenger numbers recorded at Muscat, Salalah, Suhar and Duqm airports in 2020 - A complete picture of the devastating impact that the pandemic and associated...

Key trends: Sultanate’s output capped at 732k bpd through April 2021; Oman’s crude benchmark soars to $66.41/b The Omani government has greeted Thursday’s decision by the Opec+ alliance to...

PANDEMIC IMPACTS: Sharp falls reported in hydrocarbon export earnings, customs duties and corporate income tax Total Omani government revenues slumped by a significant 30.1 per cent during the...