With a recent milestone achieved in aluminium production and major expansions planned in the steel sector, Oman is becoming an increasingly prominent player in the global metals industry.On August 20, three years after launching operations, Sohar Aluminium’s smelter produced its one millionth tonne of aluminium – an achievement the firm’s executives have said demonstrates the plant’s value…
Since issuing a decree to establish an Islamic financial services sector in May, Oman has seen a flurry of activity as banks have started gearing up to move into the new market. As well as the establishment of new Islamic banks, the sector is also seeing an upsurge of sharia-compliant services at convention institutions as well as movements in other financial services to offer Islamic products.Bank…
The lifting of a rating agency’s temporary cloud over the Oman economy and a healthy forecast for GDP growth have combined to create an air of optimism in the Sultanate. On July 20 Standard & Poor’s removed Oman from CreditWatch, with the country’s long-term local and foreign currency rating at A, and the short-term rating at A-1.The exit from the CreditWatch list, which is used to warn bond…
Efforts to deepen the penetration of information and communications technology (ICT) in everyday life in Oman are gathering pace, with state-backed investments targeting improved and faster access to advanced applications. The government has been stepping up spending on ICT as part of its policy – formally launched in 2002 – of providing the private sector with the tools to expand and diversify…
The Omani government has opened its doors to Islamic banking, with Sultan Qaboos bin Said Al Said issuing a royal directive in early May allowing for the roll-out of sharia-compliant financial services and institutions.By the end of May, the Central Bank of Oman (CBO)’s board of governors had approved legislation for the establishment of sharia-compliant institutions and Islamic branches in conventional…
Oman is scaling up investments in its electricity sector in a bid to boost production to meet spiralling demand. Plans are in hand to construct new power stations across the country and diversify sources of supply, though it will take some years before the Sultanate will have a comfortable cushion of excess generation capacity.Currently, Oman has some 3700 MW of installed capacity, with production…
Despite being established by royal decree quite recently, the Public Authority for Investment Promotion and Export Development (PAIPED) has already taken a number of steps to promote Omani products abroad and boost investment from foreign firms and governments alike, by both sending and hosting major international delegations. Moreover, that PAIPED, which replaces the Omani Centre for Investment Promotion…
Oman’s higher education system is set to be bolstered by a programme that will fine-tune its services to better meet the needs of both students and the national economy, while also bringing the system in line with international standards. Reforms have already been made, progress that was noted by the UN in its most recent Human Development Index, released in November last year. That report, entitled…
In an effort to develop local businesses and provide more job opportunities, the Omani government is actively supporting new initiatives to promote domestically manufactured products.The Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE), which oversees the country’s industrial parks and seeks to attract investment to the industrial sector, has been spearheading the promotion efforts. Recent events…
A recent call to expand capital markets and broaden the country’s economic base appears to have struck a chord with Omani companies and a series of initial public offerings (IPOs) have been announced.An article carried by the Financial Times in early April quoted a number of leading public and private sector officials as saying Oman would benefit from widening the scope of its capital markets to…
