Ithraa identifies priority sectors to attract investment

Muscat: Oman’s export promotion agency –Ithraa – has identified priority sectors to attract investment in its ninth five-year plan period.
These sectors include education, healthcare, tourism, fisheries, chemical industry, food processing, logistics, minerals and metals, machinery manufacturing and waste management. These priority sectors are also in line with the government’s ninth five-year plan strategy for attracting investment.
The Sultanate’s ninth plan focuses on developing tourism, mining, aquaculture, logistics and transport sectors for achieving a faster economic diversification.
The 2016-2020 plan, which is aimed at an annual real gross domestic growth of 3 per cent, will focus on further diversification to develop non-oil sectors and strengthen partnership between the public and private sectors.
Another major objective of the five-year plan is to create a pool of qualified Omani workforce and encourage entrepreneurship among the youth. The focus will also be on social development, including education, training and employment.
Speaking at the recently concluded Oman Economic Forum, His Highness Sayyid Faisal bin Turki Al Said, director general of Marketing and Media at Ithraa, noted that the priority sectors have been identified for promoting investment.
Highlighting the efforts of Ithraa in promoting Omani products in overseas markets, the export promotion agency has appointed 25 agents in various countries, who are responsible for promoting local products and attracting investment.
Sayyid Faisal said competition for attracting investment among countries is severe, with several countries offering tax incentives to make it investor-friendly. These countries have also created a pool of skilled workers and information technology parks to attract investment from across the world. A study conducted among investors found that the most important factor for attracting investment is availability of the skilled workforce.
Keeping in line with the same policy, Oman is focusing on education, training and infrastructure development for attracting investments.