Business Reporter
Muscat, JAN 21
The German University of Technology in Oman (GUtech) was the official Academic Partner of the eMobility Forum, which was held in Muscat on Sunday. The day-long event, organised by GlobalEVRT, brought together various stakeholders from the public and private sectors in a collective bid to push forward the adoption of clean fuels in the transportation and logistics industry.
The electrification of the transport system is seen as one of the best ways to improve the overall quality of the environment, increase air quality and lower global CO2 emissions.
Dr Oualid Ali (pictured), Director of Training and Smart Solutions Centre (TSSC) at GUtech and Founder and President of the Future Cities Council, gave a keynote speech titled: ‘Electric Vehicles for Future Smart and Sustainable Cities: Opportunities and Challenges for Oman’. In his talk he mentioned some of the challenges facing Oman, such as the implementation of governmental regulations, the transition of electric vehicles, and the need for charging infrastructure to be set up all over the country.
According to Dr Oualid, there are currently 12 existing charging stations for electric cars between Dubai and Muscat. “The network of charging stations is a very important factor,” noted Sam Alawiye, CEO of Green Parking, while adding that Dubai has one of the largest numbers of charging stations worldwide. “Our company’s goal is to provide charging stations all over the GCC region along with parking facilities so that it is possible to drive from Riyadh to Salalah within a network of charging stations based in commercial centres and hotels,” said Alawiye.
On the sidelines of the event, the participants had the chance to test-drive one of the latest electric car models from Renault, GM, Chevrolet and Tesla.
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