GROWTH ENABLER

Through an ambitious ‘the Sultanate of Oman Logistics Strategy (SOLS) 2040’, the government of Oman is looking to boost investments in its transport and logistics sector and double the employment in the sector to 80,000 as well as its GDP contribution to RO3bn by 2020.

Oman and mainly the GCC continues to be one of the most lucrative and beneficial trading and logistics hubs in the world. A well-planned and developed infrastructure in the form of ports, shipping, aviation, warehousing and free-zones has played a key role in boosting the region’s supply chain and logistics sector. Interestingly, the local logistics providers are using diverse e-commerce practices such as electronic reporting and international data transfer to improve service delivery and speed up supply chains.

Meanwhile, Middle East oil demand growth in 2020 is anticipated to gain momentum over 2019 levels, mainly as a result of assumed improvements in the economy. Saudi Arabia is expected to be the main contributor to growth, with transportation fuels – gasoline and diesel fuel –, petrochemical feedstock, construction fuels and crude oil for direct use anticipated to be the products leading oil demand growth. On the downside, geopolitical concerns may have a negative impact. For 2019, Middle East oil demand is projected to increase slightly, while oil demand in 2020 is anticipated to rise by 0.07 mb/d.

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