Omani Minister to Asharq Al-Awsat: Time to Revive Transportation of Saudi Oil to Arabian Sea

Oman’s Economy Minister Said bin Mohammed al Saqri said the economic cooperation between Saudi Arabia and the Sultanate of Oman has increased since the establishment of the Saudi-Omani Coordination Council in July.

“The council aims to develop a common vision for deepening and sustaining relations between the two countries, in addition to raising the level of cooperation in political, economic, security, military, and human development fields,” al Saqri told Asharq Al-Awsat in an exclusive interview.

The minister emphasized that the Council is also tasked with developing a framework for joint agreements and projects between Oman and Saudi Arabia as well as providing facilities to investors.

Besides promoting investment, the Council follows up on the “implementation and facilitation of initiatives and projects between the Kingdom and the Sultanate.”

Al Saqri noted that the top three sectors in which Saudi investment is concentrated in the Sultanate are trade, construction, and services.

The upturn in economic cooperation stems from the common factors shared between the national visions launched by the Kingdom and the Sultanate.

Each of the Oman Vision 2040 and Kingdom’s Vision 2030 seek to diversify the economy, reduce dependence on oil and create conditions for the private sector and investors to have a more significant role in providing job opportunities, as well as seeking to attract foreign direct investment among others.

“We believe that there is a need for fruitful work from both sides in a way that contributes to enhancing integration and partnership between the two visions in all fields, especially cooperation in economic diversification projects,” al Saqri told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The minister emphasized that the two visions include substantial investment opportunities, especially in the fields of knowledge, innovation, and technology.

“The volume of trade exchange between the Sultanate and the Kingdom increased by the end of 2020 to $2.5 billion, compared to about $1.4 billion in 2010, while the number of Saudi companies in the Sultanate increased to 1,235 in 2021, compared to 467 companies in 2010,” revealed al Saqri.

He called for improving the maritime link between Saudi Arabia and Oman by transferring oil and gas exports in the region to the Arabian Sea through the Sultanate without passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

He stressed that it has become a strategic goal to extend the existing network in case obstacles arise in the Strait of Hormuz.

“The Strait of Hormuz is the main route for oil and gas exports in the region, and there is no doubt that the existence of a vital port for the transfer of oil and gas pipelines to the Arabian Sea through the Sultanate of Oman has become of paramount strategic importance,” al Saqri told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The minister stressed that setting up an oil pipeline across the Sultanate to the Arabian Sea is a project that dates back to the 1970s.

More so, he affirmed that Riyadh and Muscat are seeking to accelerate and improve the volume of trade and investment exchange between them through joint strategic projects and enhanced investment opportunities across various sectors.

The minister also talked about incentives, like tax breaks, offered by Oman to attract industrial sector investments.

“The Saudi investor will receive the same treatment as the Omani investor, and vice versa,” said al Saqri, highlighting that Saudi Arabia is a prominent trading partner of the Sultanate.

“Oman provides an integrated economic environment that is ready to establish strategic projects in multiple industrial and free zones designated for this,” he noted.

“The Sultanate gives investors in these areas special advantages and attractive exemptions from taxes and fees,” he continued.

Al Saqri listed types of tax breaks offered by Oman, such as a five-year income tax exemption for industrial projects.

When asked about the decision to open a new road linking the Sultanate to the Kingdom, he replied: “It will reduce the travel time between two countries by 800km.”

“The direct road link between the Sultanate and the Kingdom will contribute to facilitating trade exchange and transporting goods in a shorter time and at a lower cost, which will open the way for Saudi goods to enter the Sultanate and also access the Omani ports for exports to the rest of the world,” he added.

“It will also facilitate the passage of pilgrims and tourists between the two countries, besides linking the city of Duqm in Oman with NEOM in Saudi Arabia,” he added.

“The new land route will help Omani goods access the Saudi ports located in the Red Sea for exports to the rest of the world,” affirmed al Saqri.

“The Sultanate launched the construction of the Industrial City project in the Wilayat of Ibri in Al Dhahirah Governorate in 2020, with a total area of 10 million square meters. It is an important project located on the road leading to the crossing between the Sultanate and the Kingdom,” he noted.

As for the investment opportunities offered by Oman, he asserted that it provides many options that cover several fields and that are available for Saudi investors.

“Concerning investment opportunities in the Sultanate of Oman, there are many of them in all fields, the most important of which are the fields of energy, food industries, building materials, mining, electronics, information technology, and agriculture, in addition to the pharmaceutical industries that we seek to localize in some of our industrial areas, and all of these projects - undoubtedly - are available to the Saudi investor,” said the minister.

Moreover, al Saqri pointed to memorandums of understanding regarding food security cooperation between Oman and Saudi Arabia.

“Fisheries Development Oman (FDO) 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,” reminded the minister.

Total investment in the venture, covering an area of 1,650 hectares, is estimated at $137 million across multiple phases. At full capacity, shrimp production is projected at 18,000 tons per annum.

Al Saqri said noted that “sectors that will receive priority investment are the promising sectors and activities that achieve integration between the two countries.”

Investments will focus on sectors characterized by high feasibility and speed of implementation, in addition to projects that can achieve quick gains for both countries.

The sectors whose projects were reviewed between the two sides include energy, petrochemicals, maritime transport, mining, shipping and transport services, agricultural industry, and fish farming, in addition to the postal services sector.

“These sectors are expected to contribute to the growth of Saudi investments in the Sultanate during the next period,” said al Saqri.

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun says he wants to build a state that has the decision of war and peace and stressed he is committed to implementing Security Council Resolution 1701.

In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, his first since his election in January, Aoun said: “Our objective is to build the state, so nothing is difficult. And if we want to talk about the concept of sovereignty, its concept is to place the decisions of war and peace in the hands of the state, and to monopolize or restrict weapons to the state.”

“When will it be achieved? Surely, the circumstances will allow it,” he told the newspaper.

Asked whether the state will be able to impose control over all Lebanese territories with its own forces and without any military or security partnership, he said: "It is no longer allowed for anyone other than the state to fulfill its national duty in protecting the land and the people ... When there is an aggression against the Lebanese state, the state makes the decision, and it determines how to mobilize forces to defend the country."

He also stressed his full commitment to implement UN Security Council Resolution 1701. “The state and all its institutions are committed to implementing the Resolution” on the “entire Lebanese territories,” Aoun said.

On the possible adoption of a defense strategy, Aoun insisted that even if a state does not have enemies on its borders, it should agree on a national security strategy that not only deals with military goals but also economic and fiscal objectives.

“We are tired of war,” he said in response to a question. “We hope to end military conflicts and resolve our problems through diplomatic efforts,” he said.

Asked whether he was surprised that the Israeli army has stayed at five points in south Lebanon, Aoun said that Israel should have committed to the ceasefire agreement that was sponsored by the US and France and should have withdrawn from all areas it had entered during the war with Hezbollah.

“We are in contact with France and the US to pressure Israel to withdraw from the five points because they don’t have any military value,” he said.

“With the emergence of technologies, drones and satellites,” an army does not need a hill for surveillance, Aoun added.

"Saudi Arabia has become a gateway for the region and for the whole world. It has become a platform for global peace,” he said when asked why he has chosen to visit the Kingdom on his first official trip abroad.

“I hope and expect from Saudi Arabia, especially Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, that we correct the relationship for the benefit of both countries and remove all the obstacles ... so that we can build economic and natural relations between us.”

He said that during his visit he plans to ask Saudi Arabia to revive a grant of military aid to Lebanon.

On relations with the Syrian authorities, Aoun said he intends to have friendly ties the new Syrian administration and that one of the pressing issues is to resolve the problem of the porous border between the two countries.

“There are problems on the border (with Syria) with smugglers. Most importantly, the land and sea border with Syria should be demarcated,” he said.

Aoun also called for resolving the problem of Syrian refugees in Lebanon. “The Syrian state cannot give up on 2 million citizens who have been displaced to Lebanon.”

The refugees should return because “the Syrian war ended and the regime that was persecuting them collapsed,” he said.

Omani Minister to Asharq Al-Awsat: Time to Revive Transportation of Saudi Oil to Arabian Sea