New $48m food hub taking shape at Salalah Free Zone

A new food processing cluster, anchored by a flour mill, is being established in Salalah Free Zone — the latest in a series of food hubs in various stages of planning and implementation across the Sultanate. The food sector is one of the fastest growing industries in the Sultanate — its growth powered partly by the government’s aggressive quest to secure the country’s basic food requirements, and partly by the development of a wider ecosystem that, along with agro, fish and livestock processing, is fuelling new investments into this rapidly expanding segment of the Omani economy. Following a usufruct agreement signed by the free zone authority last November, construction work will start before the end of this year on a 51,000-sq metre site earmarked for a cluster of food-related investments. Centring around a flour mill operation, the cluster will also include an animal feed mill and fish processing plants, according to a report in Duqm Economist, the quarterly newsletter of the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (OPAZ). Industrial-scale food hubs are in various stages of planning and development in Sohar Freezone, Muscat International Airport Free Zone, Khazaen Economic City and Duqm Special Economic Zone, besides Salalah Free Zone. In all five locations, the hubs are expected to capitalise on sea-to-air capabilities to target overseas markets. Meanwhile, Asyad Group, the holding company of government stakes in Omani ports, free zones, road and maritime logistics operators, and shipping and dry dock entities, announced on Monday that new investment inflows into Salalah Free Zone and Sohar Freezone totalled in excess of RO 150 million (approx. $390 million) last year alone. “Asyad Group attracted local and global investments at Salalah and Sohar free zones with a total value of RO 150 million during 2020, offering end-to-end comprehensive logistics solutions to customers locally and globally,” the state-owned group said in a post. Despite challenging economic and pandemic-related conditions, the two free zones accounted for nearly three million tonnes of general and liquid cargoes being shipped in and out during the course of 2020. Containerised imports and exports also totalled around 105,000 TEUs, it stated.