23/12/2014
Saudi recorded a surplus B46.8 billion riyals in its dealings Gulf
Saudi Arabia and Oman are discussing the development of trade and investment cooperation
The Eventskicked offyesterdaySaudi Investmentand TradeForumOman,inMuscat,in order toidentifyinvestorsand companies fromSaudi Arabiaand variousinvestmentopportunitiesavailable to thembusinessin the Sultanate ofOman.
the forum, organized bythe General Authorityfor Investment Promotion andExport Development(enrichment)in cooperation with theprivateBadakkmandBank Muscateconomic zonethe two-day discusses,a numberof themesmost importantinvestment climatein the Sultanate ofOman,fish farmingandfood sectorand health services, financial and bankingservicessector,logistics, free zonesand the tourism sector.
For his part,Dr. Salimbin Nasser AlIsmaili;Chairman ofthe General Authorityfor Investment Promotion andExport Development(enrichment),looked forward topromoteinvestmentandtradewith Saudi Arabiamovement,in lightnear the end ofmany of theinfrastructure projectsthat will contributeto the development ofeconomic relationswiththe Saudi side, first and foremostthe land routeproject, which connectsbetween the Sultanate ofOman and Saudi Arabia,which will have apositive impact ontradebetween the two countries.AsnotedMohammedBin Saleh Al-Khalil, member of theCouncil of Saudi Chambers,that "theGulf Organizationfor Industrial Consulting,"revealed the existence ofa potentialindustrialinvestmentsin the Sultanateof up to $354.6million, in thefields ofmetallurgy,metaland chemical industries, food industries.The organization alsoreportedthat a higher volumeof trade exchangebetweenthe GCC countriesand othercountries of the worldduringthe past ten years, reachingup to the year2013to $ 1.5trillion,compared to335.3billion dollarsin 2003.
Hebron andpointedto a rise inthe value oftrade between theGulf CooperationCouncil (GCC),6 per centover the past year2013to reach$ 38.4billionversus$ 36 billionin 2012,the Saudisurplus recordedof46.8billion riyalsin its dealings withthe Gulf Statesin2013and has maintainedthe Gulf Statesarrangedinthesamebusiness dealingswith Saudi Arabia,the UAEandBahraintop spot, followed byOman,QatarandKuwait,and finallyin2013.
Following that, thegroup of officialsin thepublic and private sectorsin the Sultanate ofOmanforseveral workingpapersof variousvital sectorsin addition toholdinga number ofbilateral meetingsbetween the two sides.
The Special Economic ZoneAuthorityBadakkmorganizesdayvisitidentifiableSaudi investorsand a number ofOmani businessmentoDuqmforprojects beingimplementedin the regionand the investment opportunitiesavailable,includesa visitDry DockandPortof Duqmand tourist areas, industrial and residentialgardenrocks.
For his part,Sheikh Khalid binMustahailMashani;Chairman of the Boardof Bank Muscat,theSultanate of Omanis one of themost promisingmarkets in the regiondue to thepossession ofmany of thecommercial andeconomic fundamentals,as well asthe incentives and facilitiesthat willencouragejoint investmentsandattract foreign investmentthroughpacksoffacilities.
He explainedthat the forumwill contribute to thedefinition ofinvestment and tradeopportunities thatOman and Saudi Arabiaandencourage investorsandcompaniesenjoyto contribute to thepromotion oftrade between thetwo countries,noting thathis country wason the verge ofimplementation ofmany of thevarious economicprojects andon strengthening theinfrastructurein all fieldsand therefore theopportunitiesexistfor investorsto take advantageof them.Mashani stressedthe importance of creatingpartnerships andcooperationbetweeninvestorsorcompanies inthe Sultanate of Omanwith their counterparts inSaudi Arabia, whichis one of thedeveloped countriesandgrowingindifferent sectors.
For his part,Faisal bin TurkiAl Said,general manager ofmarketing and mediain a speechmade clear,that the forumaims topromote anddefinethe private sector, Saudi Arabia,the most importanttrade and investmentopportunitiesin the Sultanate ofOmanand work tofacilitate thestartActivitySaudi companiesin the Sultanateby all meansavailable, particularly as theeconomySaudi Arabiacomesinrankedtwentiethin the world,and looking topromoteinvestmentandtrade withSaudi Arabia in thelightnear the end ofmanyinfrastructure projects.
He added that theprivate sectorin the Sultanatehas witnessed unprecedented growthinthe past ten years,in terms of economicmeasurestaken by the governmentto finda lot ofgrowth opportunities, eitherby opening the doorto investmentinpower and water desalinationbasic servicessector,orthrough the development ofprojectsthat have contributed toqualityas projectspetrochemicals and metals, andopeninvestment in the tourismsectorcontributed significantlyto the development ofthis promisingsector, whichtakes advantage ofthe geologicaland cultural diversityof the Sultanate ofOmanand inincreasing the contribution ofthe tourism sectorinGDPinthe last period.
