Press Release                  Date: 30/1/2008

The Oman Economic Forum will take place
On13-14 April, 2008

A Press Conference held to announce:
the Oman Economic Forum

The “Oman Economic Forum”, hosted by the Omani capital on 13th and 14th of April 2008, was announced today in Muscat. Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal Group is organizing this forum, in association with the Omani Ministry of Trade and Industry, and in collaboration with the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Omani Center for Investment Promotion and Export Development.

This announcement came during a press conference held at the headquarters of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Among the participants were Chairman of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry Khalil Al Khanji, Advisor to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Mohsen Bin Khamis Al Baloushi, and Walid Abou Zaki, Executive Director of Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal Group.

Al Baloushi:
The Advisor to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry Mohsen Bin Khamis Al Baloushi, started off by praising the initiative taken by Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal Group to organize the forum and said that: "This forum is an important occasion to highlight investment opportunities in the Sultanate after the developments that have taken place at many levels, particularly at the legislative level".

He continued: “The forum is held at a time where the Sultanate of Oman is in the process of implementing an ambitious plan aimed at expanding and diversifying the economic base and reducing its dependence on oil exports. The plan includes major projects and ambitious programs dealing with the following:

First: achieving greater economic openness and encouraging foreign investment in all areas through incentives and exemptions, and the development and allocation of power and water desalination, and port services, as well as all other public utilities. The incentives provide foreign investors with the ease and possibility of ownership, exemptions from custom duties and taxes on corporate profits for a period of 10 years, the free flow of capital, and a waiver of the personal income tax.

Second: The development, expansion and modernization of Oman's infrastructure, including the various ports in the Sultanate whose management is being privatized, and the creation of a number of free zones, especially in the ports of Sohar and Salalah.

Third: The establishment of a base of industries associated with oil and gas and other heavy industries, including petrochemicals and iron and steel, as well as the development of manufacturing industry.

Fourth: The promotion of commercial activity and the prime location of Oman for transit trade in the region through the development of the Sultanate’s ports, and taking advantage of the its Free Trade Agreement with the United States, its relations with the European Union and membership in the World Trade Organization, as well as its lower labor cost compared with other neighboring states to attract export industries to Gulf markets.

Fifth: Taking advantage of Oman's considerable tourism resources and potential to make it a leading tourism destination in the region through investment in the infrastructure of roads, ports, airports and other facilities, and by encouraging domestic and foreign investments in tourism projects and associated services activities.

The oil and natural gas sector is also given prime importance, as the Sultanate gears its efforts to reverse the gradual decline in oil production capacity by allocating $10 billion to intensify exploration and development efforts and enhance the productivity of existing fields over the next five years.

Al Khanji:
The Chairman of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry Khalil Al Khanji, then address the press by saying: The Omani economy has benefited greatly in recent years from the continuing surge in oil and gas prices and from the new economic development strategy. The latest available figures show that growth averaged 5 percent annually during 2005-2006 and remained at close to this level in 2007. This growth coincided with a rise in non-oil exports by more than 160 percent between 2003 and 2006 and a strong growth in domestic demand, as reflected in an increase of 66 percent in total commodity imports during the same period. External reserves meanwhile grew from $ 3.6 billion at the end of 2004 to about $ 8 billion at the end of 2007.

He concluded by saying: "We appreciate the valuable initiative of Al-Iktissad Wal-Aamal Group to organize this forum and we are committed to providing all the help and support to make it a successful event since Oman needs a promotional effort to highlight the investment opportunities it offers as well as its comparative and advantage in many areas”.

Abou Zaki:
The Executive Director of the Al Iktissad Wal Aamal Group, Walid Abou Zaki then said: "All these positive developments have made the Sultanate of Oman the focus of attention and the center of growing interest by investors and businessmen in the other Gulf and Arab countries, in particular, and the world generally, especially in light of the large amount of surplus of funds available for investment in the Gulf”.

“In the light of all these developments, the Oman Economic Forum comes at the right time to provide an insight on all that is going on in the Omani economy in terms of ambitious plans and development projects being implemented in all sectors, and to point to the challenges ahead.

The Forum is expected to attract a large number and range of participants, including business leaders, investors and financiers, bankers and economic experts from the Sultanate of Oman, the Gulf countries, the Arab world generally and many other countries”.

Abou Zaki ended by saying that the forum will thus be a valuable opportunity to interact with decision-makers in the Omani, Arab and regional public and private sectors, especially as the forum will address important topical issues, including recent developments in the Omani economy and its future prospects, the investment environment, efforts and projects to rebuild oil production capacity, prospects for tourism, ongoing real estate development projects, recent developments in the banking and financial sector and future prospects, and main areas of growth and business and investment opportunities in all the sectors”.