(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) Celebrating Oman Industry Day, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry (MoCI) organised an annual meeting at Crowne Plaza Muscat on Sunday to review the latest developments in the sector and address the concerns of local industries.
The meeting was attended by H E Ali al Sunaidy, Minister of Commerce and Industry, senior officials of MoCI, industrialists, and businessmen. The meeting discussed topics of common interest. Moreover, opinions were expressed, and suggestions shared to explore future prospects for the development and expansion of the industrial sector.
Oman Industry Day is celebrated every year to commemorate His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said's visit to the Rusayl Industrial Estate on February 9, 1991.
H E Sunaidy addressed the problems and issues raised by industrialists that stand in the way of investment and industrial development.
The minister said the industrial sector will be subject to a review in order to adopt a new industrial strategy aimed at raising efficiency, adding value, and creating more job opportunities to attract nationals. ''This would be possible by increasing production and establishing new large-scale projects,'' he said.
''The biggest return lies in the integration of large-scale projects with existing small and medium enterprises (SMEs). The government provides many incentives, such as tariff exemptions for equipment and raw material needed for production, as also exemption from income tax and the provision of soft loans and infrastructure facilities in industrial zones in order to increase added value and create new jobs.''
H E Sunaidy said that Oman has witnessed good growth in non-oil industrial exports to India, China and the US in the past few years, while the sultanate's products have also reached new markets in Africa, North America and East Asia.
''Mineral products, metal products, chemical products, construction materials, and electrical products represent the most important non-oil exports from Oman. The year 2013 witnessed the development of many major industrial projects contributing to non-oil exports,'' H E Sunaidy said.
The minister said that in order to meet the requirements of the industrial sector, the government is working to establish new industrial zones, in addition to the existing six industrial areas supervised by the Public Establishment for Industrial Estate (PEIE).
''We are studying the establishment of specialised industrial zones near oil fields. We are also deploying our efforts towards expansion and infrastructure development in the existing industrial areas in various part of the sultanate.''
H E Sunaidy said that oil and gas, transport, and communication remained the most important sectors on which Omani industry should focus in the coming years. He added that the ongoing large-scale infrastructure development in the GCC countries also presented opportunities for Omani industr
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