What makes Oman an exciting place to invest?

◊ Falling oil prices force Oman to re-direct its economic future. The second largest sector, currently undergoing huge development, is the tourism industry. Current investment of US$260 million will create 2,000 new hotel rooms and will boost Oman’s accommodation capacity from 1.4 million to 11 million by 2040.

◊ Oman having to completely re-align its economy, the construction industry is a key development area for the coming years as the country’s infrastructure is adapted. The sector will be the cornerstone of the process by which Oman will redefine its economic future.

◊ While slow internet connections are gradually disappearing in Oman, there is still potential for growth toward fast and super-fast broadband connections. ICT capacity in the government and private sector have been drastically enhanced by initiatives toward e-governance by the Omani government.

Tourism

The tourism industry in Oman is growing rapidly. Major hotel construction projects are envisioned for the years to come. One of the biggest domestic players, Oman Hotels and Tourism Company, published plans to invest US$260 million in building ten three and four star hotels over the next five years which will have a total of 2,000 hotel rooms. Accommodation capacity in Muscat and in other cities is undergoing rapid expansion. According to a KPMG study the intake of foreign tourists could grow from 1.4 million today to approximately 11 million in 2040. Taking these developments into consideration, potential within the tourism industry is tremendous and is expected to become the second most important sector after oil. The indicators are good: the country has the capacity to attract tourists both to its Arabian Sea beaches and its desert safari camps. From here it is left only for the private sector to continue developing further initiatives to promote this blossoming industry.

ICT

Oman is engaged in bringing its ICT capacity forward. This is evidenced by rapid growth in the country’s fixed-broadband connection, which grew from 41.8% in 2014 to 49.3% in 2015. This trend will be further accelerated through the Oman Broadband Company’s aim to lay backbone fibre-optic cables across the country to supply it with internet connection. Its ambitious vision expects to cover 85% of the Muscat area by 2020, and by 2030 it is envisioned that 95% of all urban areas in Oman will be equipped with fibre-optic broadband connectivity. This growth is not only happening the private sector, where the highest ICT usage is in telecommunications and banking; the government is also making great strides in the ICT sector. E-government applications include cloud and e-passport services that bring public sector organisation to perfection. While the country sets course on a digitised future there is ample room for investment to boost the development which will shape the technologically-advanced Oman of tomorrow.

Construction

The construction industry is one of the cornerstones of Oman´s economy. The sector accounts for approximately 8% – or US$5.7 billion – of the country´s GDP, and it grew by around 3.4% in 2016. This achievement is a result of the government’s push for Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in order to broadly restructure the country. This has benefitted transportation infrastructure in the main but the tourism industry has also profited. Construction has improved on and in some cases rebuilt central parts of major cities such as Muscat, where US$520 million was invested in the district Madinat Al Irfan. The aim was to expand touristic infrastructure including hotels, shopping malls, and recreational centers. The country will look to further expand the construction sector in the future as it focuses on diversifying its economy away from oil and gas, and so a broad reconstruction of Omani infrastructure is envisioned for the years to come.