Saudi-Omani MoUs Boost Shared Investments

The second meeting of the Saudi-Omani Business Council, which concluded on Monday in Muscat (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The second meeting of the Saudi-Omani Business Council, which concluded on Monday in Muscat (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Saudi-Omani MoUs Boost Shared Investments

The second meeting of the Saudi-Omani Business Council, which concluded on Monday in Muscat (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The second meeting of the Saudi-Omani Business Council, which concluded on Monday in Muscat (Asharq Al-Awsat)

The Omani-Saudi Investment Forum and the Joint Saudi-Omani Business Council concluded their meetings and activities on Monday in Muscat, by introducing and promoting investment opportunities in the Kingdom and Sultanate.

In a major boost for Oman’s ambitious shrimp farming industry, Fisheries Development Oman (FDO) – the fisheries sector investment and development arm of the government – has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Aquaculture Group (Naqua) of Saudi Arabia centering on cooperation in the development of the former’s shrimp farming project at Al Jazer on the Sultanate’s Al Wusta coast.

The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the Omani-Saudi Investment Forum.

More so, several Saudi businessmen inked agreements and MoUs for services and researching future investment opportunities with a number of Omani companies.

Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Investment, Khalid al-Falih, and Oman’s Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, Qais al-Yousef discussed the horizons open for trade and investment cooperation between their two countries.

“On this visit, we anticipated a serious desire to build a growing partnership in the strategic economic sectors of interest to the two countries... We are fully prepared to advance this partnership and achieve integration,” said al-Yousef.

Al-Yousef said that the existing investment structures provide an attractive environment for promising projects. These factors affirm suitable opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors from Saudi Arabia to enter partnerships with their Omani counterparts.

Al-Yousef said that Oman and Saudi Arabia seek to achieve prosperity for their citizens and that this partnership, based on solid grounds of integrated action, constitutes an opportunity for the two countries’ people.

During the meeting, al-Falih and al-Yousef signed an MoU for cooperation on investment promotion.

The meeting also discussed means of promoting trade between the two countries and the formation of joint committees in the targeted sectors.

Al-Falih said that the development and transformational trends in the two countries, namely Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 and Oman’s Vision 2040, have provided a large space for joint strategic investment opportunities that benefit both states.

In a speech, al-Falih praised the “historic visit” of Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said to Saudi Arabia and his meeting with Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in July, SPA reported.



Taiwan Expects Small Impact from Trump Tariffs on Chip Exports

A chip is pictured at the Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute (TSRI) at Hsinchu Science Park in Hsinchu, Taiwan, September 16, 2022. Reuters/Ann Wang/ File Photo
A chip is pictured at the Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute (TSRI) at Hsinchu Science Park in Hsinchu, Taiwan, September 16, 2022. Reuters/Ann Wang/ File Photo
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Taiwan Expects Small Impact from Trump Tariffs on Chip Exports

A chip is pictured at the Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute (TSRI) at Hsinchu Science Park in Hsinchu, Taiwan, September 16, 2022. Reuters/Ann Wang/ File Photo
A chip is pictured at the Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute (TSRI) at Hsinchu Science Park in Hsinchu, Taiwan, September 16, 2022. Reuters/Ann Wang/ File Photo

Taiwan only expects a small impact from any tariffs imposed by the incoming government of US President-elect Donald Trump on semiconductor exports given their technological superiority, Economy Minister Kuo Jyh-huei said on Friday.
Home to the world's largest contract chipmaker, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co., the island is a key link in the global technology supply chain for companies such as Apple and Nvidia, according to Reuters.
But Taiwanese policymakers have warned new US tariffs against all countries from the Trump administration could curb economic growth this year for the export-dependent economy.
Trump has pledged a blanket tariff of 10% on global imports into the United States and a far higher 60% tariff on Chinese goods.
In late November, he specifically pledged a 25% tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico when he takes office on Jan. 20.
Asked at a news conference about the impact on Taiwan's export orders of Trump's tariffs, Kuo said it would not much affect the chip sector.
“For our semiconductors and advanced processes, there is an advantage of technological leadership and that cannot be replaced, and so the impact will be small,” he added.
Taiwan will also help companies relocate supply chains to the United States as needed, away from where there might be high import tariffs, Kuo said.
“Now we see that we should be able to develop the aerospace supply chain industry in the United States, and do some joining up with the US aerospace companies, so that some of Taiwan's aerospace research and development centres can be moved there,” he added.