In order to foster foreign investment and the unlimited facilities provided to foreign investors, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry, and Investment Promotion (MoCIIP) has not ignored the issue of legalising value-added economic activities wherein foreigners can invest in old and new domains as well as activities in which entrepreneurs could be engaged.
The Ministry has thus revised the list of activities prohibited for foreigners on a regular basis and incorporated new activities favouring entrepreneurs. Furthermore, the Ministry issued an additional list of economic activities prohibited for foreigners, bringing the total to 96 activities, demonstrating the Ministry’s concern for providing new opportunities to Omani residents.
Such activities do not require foreign funding and provide a profitable return for Omani entrepreneurs.
Due to its potential to lessen uneven competition, this surely improves the practice of entrepreneurship and adds to creating bigger vistas for small and medium enterprises to achieve development.
The Ministry created this list of new activities after consulting with a variety of stakeholders, including governors and councils of municipalities in the governorates, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority, and the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The MoCIIP is particularly interested in small and medium-sized firms, which account for more than 90 per cent of all businesses in Oman and other economies, including industrialised nations. It is a tendency that makes Oman more committed to bolstering and qualifying the national workforce and empowering them through all possible and accessible means, including banning foreign investments in certain activities that can be carried out by Omani youth who have the necessary abilities and capabilities that would assist in achieving high added value.
The decision adds 27 new activities to the list prohibited for Omani investors only. Furthermore, the foreign investor is prohibited from engaging in the aforementioned activities, increasing the total number of activities designated for Omanis to 95, while the previously prohibited activities for foreigners remain unchanged.
The Ministry is also offering incentives to foreign investors, including 100 per cent ownership of projects, as part of its pursuit and role in collaboration with other stakeholders in attracting qualitative investments to Oman, particularly those that require larger capital or have added value or advantages in terms of expertise and technology transfer.
Foreign investors are permitted to engage in over 1,700 commercial or industrial operations. Also, the country has allocated lands and real estate required for the project through long-term lease arrangements for up to 30 years, renewable for an equivalent period, in addition to exempting manufacturing supplies from customs duties and tax in certain industries for a period of up to 30 years.
The law also provides the foreign investor the right to carry out all project-related transfers to and from outside the Sultanate, as well as the rights to existing investment projects.
The enterprises exposed to foreign capital investment, on the other hand, have been compelled to hire at least one Omani in order for competition to be equitable and in order to attract quality investments that fulfill national goals.
After a year following the company’s inception, an Omani citizen must be registered with Social Security. Following that, foreign enterprises must adhere to the nationalisation rates established for each industry.
Once favourable circumstances for foreign investors are provided, these significant initiatives and decisions, of which we have only covered a tiny portion, will herald a new era in the economic sector.
The government has also provided more opportunities for firms to thrive. This balance was created based on a thorough investigation, and these results came together to promote and reinforce Oman’s Vision 2040.
These initiatives have become the most powerful engines capable of advancing the foreign investment process while also serving as a stimulus for entrepreneurs in their efforts to assert themselves and promote the country’s development system, and benefit the national economy as a whole.
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