Under the patronage of Yahya bin Saeed al Jabri, Chairman of the Special Economic Zone Authority of Duqm (SEZAD), a ceremony will be held to mark the laying of the foundation stone for a bus manufacturing project in Duqm Special Economic Zone tomorrow, November 30, 2017 in the presence of a number of dignitaries and representatives of the companies partnering in the project.
The new project, named Karwa Motors, is a strategic partnership between Qatar Transport, the national transport company in Qatar that owns a 70 per cent stake in the company. Oman Investment Fund (OIF), a sovereign wealth fund in Oman, owns the balance 30 per cent. The two parties will invest about $90 million in the first phase of the project, which has the potential to become an active hub for the bus industry in Duqm.
The laying of the foundation stone is a milestone in the implementation of a historic initiative to build the first bus manufacturing and assembly plant in the Sultanate as a strategic investment by the governments of Oman and Qatar.
The initial capacity of the plant is to produce 1,000 buses per year and up to 3,000 buses at the peak capacity of the plant, following the gradual expansion of the plant based on market demand.
The factory is designed to produce coaches and city buses including civil buses and school buses to meet the local and regional market needs.
It will allow Karwa Motors to sell its buses in the Middle East and North Africa region with greater flexibility while prioritising Omani and Qatari markets. Demand for buses around the world is on the rise and this production will grow to supply the regional bus requirement’s increasing demand.
The project will be built on an area of 220,000 square metres in its first phase, employing 200 employees and workers in the first phase alone, which is expected to double as the project expands.
It will also contribute to development research, manufacturing spare parts, design and international marketing departments.
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