UK, US top foreign direct investors in Oman

Muscat: Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in the Sultanate for the third quarter of 2020 crossed RO 15.6 billion, an increase of 11.7 percent compared to the same time for the previous year.

The total volume of FDI to the country came to RO 15,658.2 million, for the 9-months of 2020, compared to RO 14,017.2 million for this period in 2019, while foreign investment inflows amounted to RO 1.644 billion, according to the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI). In terms of volumes of FDIs, the UK ranked first, with RO 7.92 billion up from RO 7,264.4 million, followed by the United States with RO 1,847.9 million in the third quarter of 2020, compared to RO 1,716.7 million for the corresponding period last year. The United Arab Emirates also has significant foreign investment in the Sultanate at RO 1,267.7 million, compared to RO 1,173.7 million for the third quarter of 2019. Kuwait came fourth with RO 933.2 million in FDIs for the third quarter of 2020, in comparison to RO 841.3 million for the same timeframe in 2019. Bahrain’s investments in Oman rose from RO 441.3 million in the third quarter of 2019, to RO 395.4 million in the third quarter of 2020. China’s FDI values for the first 9-months of 2020 were RO 848.9 million, up from RO 75.0 million for this period in 2019, while Qatar’s investments totaled RO 410.6 million, rising from RO 350.4 million. The FDI values from the Netherlands added up to RO 337.4 million, a steady increase from the RO 304.7 million that was invested into the country in the first nine months of 2019. Investments from India came to RO 318.3 million, increasing from RO 321.3 million. Investments from Switzerland represented another RO 280.1 million, an increase from the third quarter of last year, which was RO 260.4 million. Investments from other countries around the world, for the first months of 2020 accumulated to a total of RO 1,048.5 million, down from RO 1,311.0 million for the same time period in 2019. The maximum amount of foreign investment went into the oil and gas sector (RO 10.06 billion, up from RO 9.25 billion), followed by the manufacturing sector, which saw RO 1.55 billion in investment, up from RO 1.63 billion. In the financial sector, Oman received RO 1.47 billion in investment, the same as was invested in this field for the corresponding period last year. Real estate activities saw an investment of RO 1.14 billion, up from RO 763.8 million for the first nine months of 2019. Other economic activities in Oman saw a total investment of RO 1.42 billion, up from RO 1,007.0 million for the first quarter of 2019.