The next big sector in terms of the number and size of investments is the combination of Mining & Industry. A total of 57 different projects, ranging from small-scale ventures to mega-size schemes, are being promoted for local and international investment. Worth over RO 620 million in total investments, they pertain to the production of, among other commodities, ferrochrome, magnesium metal, industrial salt, gypsum, limestone and dolomite, sodium silicate, calcium carbonate, cement, marble, engineered quartz stones and quarry material. Also listed as promising for investment are industrial and manufacturing activities focused on: evaporated and condensed milk, value-added fisheries, breakfast cereals, poultry meat, fibreglass boat, precast concrete panels, float glass, aluminium containers, pipes, PP women bags, prefab buildings, rebars, steel wire and barbed wire, wire nails, nuts and bolts, cables, steel and stainless steel.
The waste management sector features five projects with an investment potential of about RO 587 million. They include an array of waste-to-energy projects, primarily for the generation of electricity, but also biogas, used cooking oil refining, and processing of electrical or electronic waste. Fisheries Development Oman (FDO), an affiliate of Oman Investment Authority, plans to develop a major shellfish project on a 1,700-hectare site near Duqm. In the health sector, an ambitious Life Sciences Centre is planned in South Al Batinah with an investment of around RO 100 million. Madayn, the state-backed entity managing the country’s industrial cities, is seeking investments in new manufacturing hubs planned in Shinas, Marmul and Thamrait. OFIC, the government’s food sector investment and development arm, has invited investors to be part of a unique Techno-Food Park, which is planned in the capital city with an investment of around RO 6.5 million.
Source Link: www.omanobserver.om