The U.S.-Oman Free Trade Agreement (FTA), ratified in June 2006, is accelerating the Sultanate's emerging status as a trade and developing center in the Arabian Gulf.  Oman is now the second largest LNG exporter in the region and is actively soliciting downstream investment to increase value-added production and create jobs.

One such investment by Dow Chemical, the largest investment in Oman by a U.S. company, will dedicate one billion Omani riyals (about $2.6 billion) to a joint venture to engineer, construct, and operate a petrochemical complex.  The new venture, the Oman Petrochemicals Industries Company (OPIC), broke ground recently and will begin operations toward the end of the decade.

In 2006, manufacturing made up 5 percent of Oman's GDP, and the Government of Oman -- as part of Economic Vision 2020 -- wants to triple this number by 2020.  To promote growth in manufacturing, according to the Oxford Business Group, Oman has put in place a number of incentives for investors, including a five-year holiday on taxes on profits, which is renewable for a further five years.  There is also a five-year customs duties exemption for manufacturing companies importing raw machinery, equipment, spare parts and raw and semi-processed materials.

Oman's private sector is investing more of its own capital into the economy, and this is sending a very positive message to potential business partners in the U.S.  The FTA with the U.S. could play a key role in promoting investment by opening the door for partnerships in such leading edge sectors as Information & Communications Technology, education and training, financial services, insurance, hospitality & leisure, and logisitics.

Links

Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Country Commercial Guide (pdf)
CIA Factbook
World Bank
Embassy in the U.S.
U.S. Embassy in Oman