OIA Launches RO 935 Million Strategic Projects: What This Means for Investors and Businesses in Oman
Muscat: The Oman Investment Authority (OIA) is actively advancing national priorities by investing in projects that support economic diversification and enhance local content. Within the first month of Oman’s 11th Five-Year Development Plan, OIA launched four major industrial initiatives focused on manufacturing industries, tourism, and the digital economy. These projects reinforce OIA’s strategic role in driving Oman Vision 2040’s manufacturing sector, leveraging global partnerships and subsidiary-led investments to strengthen local supply chains and promote technology localization.
A flagship venture among these is the fully financed United Solar project, backed by Future Fund Oman (FFO), which entails establishing an advanced polysilicon production plant in Sohar Free Zone. This facility is United Solar’s largest outside China, with a total investment of RO 700 million ($1.8 billion), positioning it as one of the region’s largest renewable energy industrial projects.
United Solar Polysilicon Company, a subsidiary of United Solar Holding, entered a joint financing agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and a consortium of regional and local banks. This initiative will integrate Oman into the global solar energy supply chain by localizing cutting-edge technologies, increasing local content, and creating 1,012 direct jobs in engineering, manufacturing, maintenance, and clean energy sectors.
In maritime manufacturing, ASYAD Group launched Oman’s first fully built tugboat project, executed through a tripartite agreement with ASYAD Drydock, Oman LNG, and global maritime leader Svitzer. The project is expected to generate both direct and indirect employment while achieving approximately 50% local content. It aims to boost national capabilities in advanced marine manufacturing and logistics, facilitating knowledge transfer and enhancing Oman’s position as a regional hub for industrial and logistic services.
Hisham bin Ahmed al Sheedi, Chief Investment Officer — Economic Diversification Investments at OIA, highlighted that these projects represent a new chapter in the ongoing transformation of OIA’s National Development Fund. He emphasized the focus on maximizing synergies among subsidiaries, enhancing local content, generating employment, and localizing advanced technologies to support Oman Vision 2040’s economic pillar.
Supporting petrochemicals and high-value manufacturing, OQ Group, in partnership with Sohar Free Zone, initiated a landmark project to localize technology through a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Germany’s MAK Group. This project involves creating an integrated industrial complex to produce Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA) and Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), essential for packaging consumer goods. The plant in Sohar Free Zone will have an annual capacity of 700,000 tonnes of PTA and PET, alongside 425,000 tonnes of para-xylene (PX), a key raw material. With an investment exceeding RO 192 million ($500 million), it aims to create approximately 700 direct jobs and bolster SMEs, reduce imports, and expand non-oil exports.
Additionally, OQ Base Industries (OQ BI), in collaboration with India’s Deepak, launched a project in Salalah Free Zone to produce specialized chemicals used in pharmaceuticals and fertilizers. Using ammonia to produce sodium nitrate and sodium nitrite with a capacity of up to 70,000 tonnes per year, this project complements Salalah’s industrial ecosystem and strengthens export potential. With an investment of over RO 38 million ($110 million), it will create 150 direct jobs and support Oman’s goals for industrial and pharmaceutical security, technical knowledge transfer, and local talent development, aligned with Oman Vision 2040’s sustainable and diversified economic objectives.
Special Analysis by Omanet | Navigate Oman’s Market
Oman’s strategic investments in advanced manufacturing, renewable energy, and chemical industries through the Oman Investment Authority are catalyzing economic diversification and technology localization aligned with Oman Vision 2040. For businesses, this means new opportunities in supply chain development, innovation, and skilled employment sectors, while smart investors should focus on sectors with strong government backing like clean energy and industrial manufacturing to capitalize on growing regional and global market integration. However, entrepreneurs must be mindful of competition and the importance of aligning with national priorities to leverage synergies and secure partnerships.
