Oman Offers 36 Investment Opportunities for $4 Bn

The Omani Investment Authority (OIA) offers investment opportunities covering several sectors in the Sultanate (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Omani Investment Authority (OIA) offers investment opportunities covering several sectors in the Sultanate (Asharq Al-Awsat)
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Oman Offers 36 Investment Opportunities for $4 Bn

The Omani Investment Authority (OIA) offers investment opportunities covering several sectors in the Sultanate (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The Omani Investment Authority (OIA) offers investment opportunities covering several sectors in the Sultanate (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Oman Investment Authority (OIA) announced 36 investment opportunities worth about $4 billion and covering various industries.

OIA’s Director General of Economic Diversification, Hisham bin Ahmed al-Sheedi, said these investment opportunities would potentially ensure better alignment and synergy between OIA and other government and private entities.

Sheedi noted that the opportunities are distributed across vital investment sectors, including technology, utilities (electricity), tourism, fisheries, food, mining, and health.

In an interview published in OIA’s first quarter 2023 newsletter, “Injaz & Ijaz,” Sheedi pointed out that the investments on offer were just an initial list likely to increase based on the current and future viability studies.

He noted that specialists in the lounge would explain investment opportunities to the investor as a first step.

The list features numerous IT projects such as programming, engineering solutions, blockchains, and tourism projects, including the 3rd phase of Yiti and Yankit Sustainable City, a multi-facility entertainment destination in Barka and a Logistic Gate project at the Economic Free Zone within Muscat International Airport.

The list also includes several food security and fisheries projects, including fish and shrimp farming, fattening tuna in large floating cages, three factories for canning and packaging marine products, and fish feed production.

The list contains mining projects such as industrial minerals, copper, magnesium, and silicon.



Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said his administration would announce the new structure of the defense ministry and military within days.

In a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday, al-Sharaa said that his administration would not allow for arms outside the control of the state.

An official source told Reuters on Saturday that Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency that toppled Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, had been named as defense minister in the interim government.
Sharaa did not mention the appointment of a new defense minister on Sunday.
Sharaa discussed the form military institutions would take during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA said.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said last week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former opposition factions and officers who defected from Assad's army.

Earlier Sunday, Lebanon’s Druze leader Walid Jumblatt held talks with al-Sharaa in Damascus.

Jumblatt expressed hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations “will return to normal.”

“Syria was a source of concern and disturbance, and its interference in Lebanese affairs was negative,” al-Sharaa said, referring to the Assad government. “Syria will no longer be a case of negative interference in Lebanon," he added.