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.



Bodies of Eight Red Crescent Medics Recovered in Gaza, One Still Missing

Members of the Palestine Red Crescent and other emergency services carry bodies of fellow rescuers killed a week earlier by Israeli forces, during a funeral procession at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 31, 2025. (AFP)
Members of the Palestine Red Crescent and other emergency services carry bodies of fellow rescuers killed a week earlier by Israeli forces, during a funeral procession at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 31, 2025. (AFP)
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Bodies of Eight Red Crescent Medics Recovered in Gaza, One Still Missing

Members of the Palestine Red Crescent and other emergency services carry bodies of fellow rescuers killed a week earlier by Israeli forces, during a funeral procession at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 31, 2025. (AFP)
Members of the Palestine Red Crescent and other emergency services carry bodies of fellow rescuers killed a week earlier by Israeli forces, during a funeral procession at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on March 31, 2025. (AFP)

The bodies of eight Palestine Red Crescent medics who came under fire in Gaza just over a week ago have been recovered, though a ninth worker is still unaccounted for, the Red Cross said.

In a statement late on Sunday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said it was "appalled" at the deaths.

"Their bodies were identified today and have been recovered for dignified burial. These staff and volunteers were risking their own lives to provide support to others," it said.

The Palestine Red Crescent said it also recovered the bodies of six civil defense members and one UN employee from the same area. It said Israeli forces had targeted the workers. Red Cross statements did not apportion blame for the attacks.

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said one worker from the nine-strong Red Crescent group was still unaccounted for. The group went missing on March 23.

The Israeli military said on Monday that an inquiry had found that on March 23, troops opened fire on a group of vehicles that included ambulances and fire trucks when the vehicles approached a position without prior coordination and without headlights or emergency signals.

It said several fighters belonging to the Hamas and Islamic Jihad groups were killed.

"The Israeli army condemns the repeated use of civilian infrastructure by the terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, including the use of medical facilities and ambulances for terrorist purposes," it said in a statement.

It did not comment directly on the deaths of the Red Cross workers.

The incident was the single most deadly attack on Red Cross Red Crescent workers anywhere since 2017, the IFRC said.

"I am heartbroken. These dedicated ambulance workers were responding to wounded people. They were humanitarians," said IFRC Secretary General Jagan Chapagain.

"They wore emblems that should have protected them; their ambulances were clearly marked," he added.

According to the United Nations, at least 1,060 healthcare workers have been killed in the 18 months since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza after Hamas fighters stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

The global body is reducing its international staff in Gaza by a third due to staff safety concerns.