‘China is top trading partner’

“Oman is a big trade partner for China, and China is the number one trade partner for Oman: every year, the trade value is about $20 billion (about OMR 7.7 billion).” China is hugely invested in Oman’s Tanfeedh plans for economic diversification, and has already pledged some $ 13.2 billion (about OMR 5.1 billion) into the development of Duqm alone.

“We have some projects in power generation, telecom, oil and gas, and other investments in many parts of the country,” revealed Fulong. “We have helped establish the Duqm Industrial Park, which will have huge investment from Chinese private investors. This is a massive development that is currently under construction. This is a good phenomenon that the government of Oman and government of China have good consensus to forge a strong partnership in the future, and this is very important.

“Oman is situated in a very important location in the world, and it has many advantages for export, trade and to develop the domestic economy in areas such as mining, manufacturing and oil and gas,” he added.

“This is a country with very valuable goods, and Oman is a country that connects trade from China’s northern corridors to both the eastern and western parts of the world. People from the government sector, business sectors and many other sectors find China is a good partner to work with, and in return, we respect Oman and the system and the path of development, and look to establish a partnership plan to develop together,” he added.

Closer ties between the two countries have also seen Oman send students to China for further education to help build the Sultanate in the future.

“We have some Omani students also studying in China, and while the numbers aren’t much, these figures are also increasing: we have about 60 to 80 graduates from Oman currently in China, and this will go up in the future,” said Fulong.

“There are also more and more Chinese coming to Oman in the sectors of manufacturing, tourism, banking, investment and finance, because we support Oman’s diversification strategy to make the country rich,” he added. “In future, I believe we will have more cooperation as the countries expand into more areas, such as the scientific fields of study and people-to-people exchanges.

“This is the same as China’s policy in its neighbouring countries, and reflects our principles of amity, truthfulness and sincerity.”