Located halfway between Muscat and Salalah, Duqm exemplifies Oman’s rapid economic development in recent years. In the decades leading up to 2025, the city has evolved from a small fishing village to a regional trade centre, highlighted by the globally significant Special Economic Zone at Duqm (SEZAD). Positioned between the Arabian Sea and the Indian Ocean, SEZAD is strategically situated to capitalise further from growing trade and investment from other emerging markets, while maintaining ties to other GCC countries and well-established markets.
In the first half of 2024 SEZAD reported a cumulative investment of OR6bn ($15.6bn) – a 55% year-on-year increase of OR3.9bn ($10.1bn) from the same period in 2023. This expansion made it one of the fastest-growing free zones in the region, facilitated by its focus on several high-value industries including clean energy, fishing and food processing, logistics, manufacturing, metals, petroleum and petrochemicals, ship repair and tourism. These sectors are being developed with a commitment to environmental sustainability, and high health and safety standards.
Facts & Figures
Spanning 2000 sq km, SEZAD is the largest free zone in the MENA region – located about 550 km south of the capital, Muscat. Like other SEZs in Oman, Duqm is managed by the Public Authority for SEZs and Free Zones (OPAZ), with a dedicated SEZAD authority overseeing operations. Companies in these zones enjoy benefits such as 100% foreign ownership, and tax and Customs waivers (see overview). The zone includes residential and hotel facilities, an airport and several designated areas, including the Port of Duqm.
This facility is a 50:50 joint venture with Consortium Antwerp Port and has a 2.2-km commercial quay that can accommodate large vessels. The port offers roll-on/roll-off, bulk cargo, container and general cargo services. In 2024 a government berth was constructed and a multi-purpose fishing port opened, along with an oil berth. Duqm intends to expand its trans-shipment container capacity from 200,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) annually to 1.7m TEUs in the coming years. To support this growth, in 2024 Oman-based Asyad Group assumed management and operations of Asyad Container Terminals.
The fishing port plays an important role in SEZAD’s food processing capacity, with the International Seafood Company launching trial operations of a tuna and sardine canning plant in 2024. Additionally, in March 2025 SEZAD opened the first phase of the 750-ha fisheries and food industries complex in the zone.
Meanwhile, SEZAD’s oil refinery, inaugurated in 2024, doubled Oman’s refining capacity, processing 230,000 barrels per day. At the same time, SEZAD is emerging as a node for renewable and clean energy industries. Oman is positioning itself as a centre for green hydrogen, leveraging large-scale renewable energy projects to produce fuel crucial for the energy transition. One such initiative is Hyport Duqm, which combines a 1.3-GW solar and wind energy plant with the production of green hydrogen and green ammonia.
Additionally, the ACME Green Hydrogen Project is under construction at SEZAD. The first phase, set to begin production in 2027, aims to produce 100,000 tonnes of green ammonia annually. Green energy is also central to the $3bn Vulcan Green Steel project and a joint Kobe Steel and Mitsui direct reduced iron (DRI) plant at Duqm. Vulcan targets 5m tonnes of green steel per year, while the DRI plant plans to produce 5000 tonnes annually using low-carbon technologies.
Scaling Up
SEZAD’s focus on high-growth industries, sustainable energy and modern infrastructure positions it as a key development for the Indian Ocean region, including East Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia. Its port provides a stable, highly mechanised and digital trade platform, supporting efforts to establish local trade infrastructure. As global trade and investment patterns shift, Duqm is set to become an increasingly important resource for investors.
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