Majlis 12 Seite 22

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O man s transport industry is focusing on improving connectivity with 66 of all planned investment earmarked for transportation initiatives Important transport investments include Railways Roadways Airports and Ports Oman will be the hub for transportation from a logistical perspective as the road and rail projects are being developed along with large scale upgrades of ports while new airports are sought to increase the country s capacity to handle international aviation traffic One of the largest construction investments planned in the country is Oman s national railway Estimated at USD 15bn it is being developed as part of the planned GCC wide network Plans include 2244 km of track for both passenger and freight transportation Initial plans will see the network link six cities in Oman and Buraimi on the UAE border There are currently 67 road projects including maintenance work being carried out in Oman at a total cost of around USD 5 5bn OMR 2 15bn The Batinah Expressway due for completion in 2016 is Oman s most prominent ongoing road construction project the cost of which is estimated at OMR 1bn USD 2 6bn The civil aviation industry is witnessing quick progress as Muscat Salalah International Airports are almost on the verge of completion The Sultanate is also focusing on domestic aviation developments at the port cities of Sohar and Ras Al Hadd worth USD 400m and USD 300m respectively With regard to Ports in Oman Sohar Port is expected to receive a boost in 2015 as the commercial operations are transferred from the Port Sultan Qaboos PSQ in Muscat to Sohar Port The Salalah Sohar ports are forecasted to see strong growth in tonnage throughout the next five years Along with Sohar Duqm 450 km south of Muscat is set to become one of the major focus areas for investment The Special Economic Zone Authority Duqm SEZAD is expected to attract as much as USD 20bn in investment over the long term and create 15 000 20 000 jobs by 2020 There is a huge growth potential which is just being tapped which makes Oman a preeminent venue for attracting investors developers and technology innovators in the transport and logistics industry to meet and forecast future growth of the region for which Transoman 2014 exhibition and conference taking place 3 5 June 2014 in Muscat will serve as a platform n FOCUS OMANFOCUS OMAN I n July 2011 His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said had set directives to convert Port Sultan Qaboos PSQ into an exclusive tourism port to accelerate Muscat s transformation into becoming the prime destination for tourism while providing an opportunity for Sohar to expand its commercial and industrial strength by shifting the cargo and container operations from PSQ to Sohar Port Sohar Industrial Port is currently ready to encounter the requirements of the noteworthy growth of the volume of cargo and marine activity According to Omani Officials 80 of the first stage of the free zone has been already leased Sohar Port is set to receive all businesses transferred from Port Sultan Qaboos from 01 September 2014 In 2013 the port succeeded to receive more than 200 000 containers the current capacity of the port is 800 000 containers and moreover the container terminal operator is currently investing more than USD 100 million to prepare an integrated terminal with a capacity of 1 5 million containers The terminal is expected to be operational during the first half of 2014 According to officials there will be no price increase due to the transfer from PSQ to Sohar port as the Sohar Port Company is currently revising the prices to ensure that the transfer does not result in higher shipping costs It is also worth mentioning that the port occupies 85 percent of the total lands of the port and Sohar port and free zone has received more than USD15 billion worth of investments which makes it one of the fastest growing projects in the world This has contributed to generating new job opportunities coupled with many vocational training programs exact number of direct jobs is 8 000 and the Omanisation rates of those companies range between 35 to almost 75 The company is also in view of allocating applications for some projects that will enable them to utilize the feedstock from the existing industrial projects This will help small and medium enterprises SMEs to benefit from the businesses of these companies The project has created many other solid economic benefits for the local community and SMEs This will encourage the use of state of the art technologies and contribute to diversifying the sources of national economy n the current StatuS oF the Sultanate S tranSport logiSticS Sector oMAni AUthorities diVersifying port infrAstrUCtUre Dalia Zayed Head of Business Development and Governmental Affairs at German Industry and Commerce Office AHK Oman Mitsu Atharv Ruparel project Manager Trade Fairs at OITE Oman International Trade Exhibitions 20 ISSUE 12 MAJLIs