By Samuel Kutty — MUSCAT: Jan 22 - Along with many other major regulations, the minimum capital requirement for start-up companies in the construction sector was waived by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry on Sunday.
The regulations were announced by the ministerial decision No 13/2017 on companies and establishments in the contracting sector in the Sultanate.
“The regulations are aimed at helping the construction sector generate more job opportunities for Omanis and encourage small and medium enterprises (SMEs),” said a statement from the ministry.
According to the decisions, contractors will no longer be required to show proof of capital to register a company and there is no need to separate contracting companies from other activities in the commercial register. “This will enable the companies and establishments to register ‘contracting’ in the same licence with the other activities already registered,” said the statement.
Another decision is the choice of managing the firm. An Omani SME entrepreneur involved in the construction business can himself be the manager and run the business.
“Or an SME owner can appoint an Omani manager who will have all authorisations to conduct business and he has to be registered with the Public Authority for Social Insurance (PASI),” said the statement.
To make the companies more transparent, the regulations state that contractors should submit their final account statement to the ministry and they should open a dedicated bank account for the company.
The companies should also have their names clearly mentioned on all their equipment, trucks, cars, trailers and tools in the activities apart from having adequate waste management and recycling strategy.
Shahswar al Balushi, CEO of Oman Society for Contractors, said the decisions are in line with the proposals made by the society earlier.
“With these ministerial decisions, many Omanis will register to work for themselves in the companies or they will hire more people. This will lead to the generation of a large number of job opportunities in the future,” said Al Balushi. Regarding the decision that necessitates the companies to report their financial statement directly to the ministry, he opined that regulation will help check ‘hidden businesses’ like allowing ‘freelancing’ of workers.
“Some companies tend to use the construction licence for manpower supplies. This can be regulated with the decision,” Al Balushi said.
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