New ecommerce regulations set to boost foreign investment inflows

MUSCAT: Several government officials cited foreign investment attraction as a main objective for the newly introduced e-commerce regulations in the Sultanate of Oman.

The regulations, which were issued by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion last September, now require commercial establishments and individuals to apply for a licence before launching any ecommerce service.

They are also part of a larger e-commerce strategy which involves multiple public and private sector entities and authorities in Oman. Speaking to the Observer, multiple sources disclosed that the government is currently in negotiations with several global e-commerce companies to establish fulfilment centres in Oman.

Furthermore, an official overseeing the National E-commerce Strategy also shared that further phases of the plan could include the creation of ecommerce complexes and centres, and special ecommerce free zones.

The ecommerce sector has been identified as one of Oman’s top three most promising sectors for emerging business in Oman by advisory research firm, Startup Genome.

In 2020, revenues generated from e-commerce in Oman reached $657.1 million, and are expected to increase by 5.7 per cent to reach $867.7 million in 2025 according to market research firm Statista.

Speaking to the Observer, Azza al Kindi, Director of the Department of Commercial Affairs and Ecommerce at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, shared that the strategy had already contributed, among other accomplishments, the establishment of land borders with neighbouring countries, notably the land border between Oman and Saudi Arabia in 2021. Multiple data hosting centres have also since mushroomed in Oman, she noted.

Over the last year, The Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology (MoTCIT) was able to attract investments worth over RO 285 million in data hosting centres.

It includes Green Data City, which was announced in November 2022 and valued at RO 150 million. Another project is Afaaq for Advanced Technologies for data hosting and cryptocurrency mining valued at over RO 135 million.