Sohar Freezone attracts OMR300m investment

Now the move is to align the master plan with the multi-modal transport at the port to take advantage of the strategic location, which is called as ‘gateway plan’, said the freezone CEO

MUSCAT: Sohar freezone is preparing a major plan to take advantage of the port’s planned railway and air connectivity to the rest of the region to become a major logistics hub for the region.

As many as 22 companies have signed with Sohar Freezone for setting up various projects within the free zone, attracting OMR300 million investments so far.

Although free zone authorities have internally prepared a master plan for the phased development of 4500 hectares of land, now the move is to align the master plan with the multi-modal transport at the port to take advantage of the strategic location, which is called as ‘gateway plan.’

Master planning phase

“We are currently in a master planning phase. We will then embark on a business case and it is very likely that the business case for the second phase will include railway activities, which is expected to be operational within three years,” Jamal Aziz, chief executive officer of Sohar Freezone told Times of Oman.

“It is tied up a lot with the rail and markets in the future,” he said, adding; “Usually, we take about 500 hectares of land per phase, but the business case will determine whether we go for a bigger land area.”

Aziz also noted that the first phase area of the free zone is almost full and the authorities are embarking on second phase expansion. He said the work on the second phase development would start sometime in 2017, after pre- paring master plan and considering business case. The first two phases are part of a master plan to develop around 4,500 hectares in four phases.

Also, the Sohar Freezone is now focusing on to expand the logistics cluster within the free zone. “That is important to showcase Sohar as a strategically connected port – by road, sea and in future by railway. Logistics will start to play a bigger role in Sohar for distribution into the rest of hinterland and in the region.”

Referring to the development of a food cluster, he said since the Gulf region is a net importer of food and Sohar is strategically located to rest of the region, there is a great potential.

He said the UAE’s Essa Al Ghurair Investment is working on the drawing to build their food cluster. “They will be engaging with several companies that will be leasing from their area for various food-related projects.” Essa Al Ghurair Investment will lease a 93,000 square metre plot from Sohar Port and Freezone until July 2043. The creation of Sohar Food Cluster Company will allow Essa Al Ghurair Investments to focus on the development of value chains.