Sultanate gears up to be regional trading hub
MUSCAT: The Sultanate has completed its preparations to become a regional import and export centre after investing billions of Omani riyals for the construction of ports along the Omani coasts and through the completion of the legislative and technical structure that facilitates the work of importers and exporters, and attracts investments.
Lt Colonel Mansour bin Nasser al Rahbi, Director of Bayan at the Directorate General of Customs at the Royal Oman Police (ROP) said: “They will effectively encourage importers and exporters to use Omani ports and attract foreign investments, thus enhancing the Sultanate’s position and geographic location, and improving the performance indicators in various trade and economic fields at the international level”.
He said Bayan is the largest electronic system in the Sultanate and is linked to 42 government departments, as well as shipping and clearing companies, ports and airports operators and commercial banks.
According to trade statistics, Sultanate imported goods worth RO 8,954.6 million. Exports of local products reached RO 8,376.6 million while the re-export of foreign goods amounted to RO 3,024.3 million.
Awadh bin Said al Alawi, Director of Commercial Affairs at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said, “The Royal Decree No.11/2017 on defining the terms of reference of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry stipulates that the ministry’s functions include organising import and export procedures to ensure the availability and quality of goods and products in local markets, in addition to the stability of their prices.
He added that all laws and regulations in the Sultanate allow any investor to import and export any goods, provided that he has a commercial register and the licence of the commercial activity for the goods to be exported or imported.
He pointed out that the Ministry of Commerce and Industry recently was linked to “Bayan” System with the ROP Directorate General of Customs, to provide the import and export applications, release shipments to save time and effort for investors, to issue licenses electronically and import various goods and products from all countries of the world to the Sultanate directly. The “Invest Easy” portal of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry is one of the programmes developed by the Sultanate to facilitate the establishment of commercial and industrial projects and to support the import and export activity.
Khamis bin Abdullah al Farsi, Director-General of Trade, Head of “Invest Easy” Team at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, said that the number of applications submitted through the portal during the second quarter of 2017 stood at 36,369, including new records, renewal of the commercial register, the addition of activities and changes in commercial names.
The Sultanate through its ports aims to be among the top ten countries in logistics by 2040.
The transport and communications sector will become the second source of the national income.
Abdurrahman bin Salim al Hatmi, CEO of Oman Global Logistics Group (Asyad) said, “The group seeks to create innovative opportunities to add value to its activities and to create integrated logistics solutions at the local and global levels and interconnected through its experienced and trusted companies”.