Following is report by Oman News Agency (ONA), part of FANA's economic file coverage
MUSCAT, May 27 (KUNA) -- The Sultunate of Oman is building an economic zone in Al-Duqm Area aimed at boosting national income through increasing private sector's contribution in GDP.
Al-Duqm Economic Zone, which overlooks the Arabian Sea and is 550 kilometers away from Muscat, will create jobs and develop Al-Wusta Governortae.
Al-Duqm Economic Zone is a giant project because of its strategic location as it is close to international navigation routes near Asia and Africa, Ismail Al-Baloushi, Deputy CEO of Al-Duqm Economic Zone Authority, said in a statement Wednesday.
Established in 2011, the authority is responsible for organizing and developing the 1,745-square-kilometer economic zone, he said.
The economic zone, he explained, consisted of the industrial area, Al-Duqm Port which is jointly run by governments of Oman and Belgium, in addition to the residential and commercial area.
Al-Baloushi said the port began initial operation in the middle of 2013. He noted that Al-Duqm Economic zone also included a dry dock which is run by the South Korean Daewoo company, specialized in operating dry docks.
He said the dry dock has recently completed maintenance of a total of 300 ships since operations began in 2011. In addition to that, Al-Duqm has an airport which started operations last June and used for domestic flights.
Al-Duqm also contains three hotels offering 500 rooms and chalets.
The authority, said Al-Baloushi, sought to establish a petrochemical industries complex and an oil refinery, in addition to restaurants and an aqua park to entertain locals in the area.
He said the authority established two offices, one in Muscat and the other in Al-Duqm, with the aim of facilitating measures to establish companies and allotment of lots.
Al-Baloushi said the Omani government spent around 1.7 billion Omani Riyal (USD 4.4 billion) to build infrastructure project in Al-Duqm economic zone, including the dry dock, roads and hotels, with further ventures currently underconstruction.
Al-Baloushi said a partnership between Oman and Kuwait would see the construction of a hospital, expected to be opened next year.
He said the authority received requests to establish two international schools, light and medium-size industries.
The authority, he explained was not imposing custom tariffs, offering a 30-year tax exemption and a 50-year build-operate-trasnfer (BOT) mechanism. Foreign investors can have 100 percent owership, he added, and the authority was offering low annual lease.
Al-Baloushi said Al-Duqm economic zone was projected to contribute five percent of Oman's GDP by the year 2020. (end) maa.bs