Foreign investment in Oman stood at RO 1.8 billion at the end of 2011, including reinvestment income and interests, as compared with RO 1.6 billion in 2010, a rise of 12.6 per cent. The statistics released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) shows that profits distributed to direct investors have risen from RO 851 million in 2010 to RO 1.2 billion in 2011 while reinvestment income fell by 14.5 per cent.
The value of foreign direct investments (FDI) in Oman stands at RO 10 billion and the total value of foreign investment stands at RO 12.7 billion at the end of 2011, an increase of 10.4 per cent compared to 2010, with 565 foreign investment institutions registered in the Sultanate, of which 75.4 per cent are foreign direct investments. The statistics also shows that manufacturing accounted for 30 per cent (RO 3.9 billion) of the total size of foreign investment followed by oil and gas sector which accounted for 27.7 per cent (RO 3.5 million). The Sultanate has attracted investments to the tune of RO 5.9 billion of foreign direct investments in 2011 from 51 countries, topped by the United Kingdom with RO 2.3 million mainly in oil and gas sector.
The GCC states have emerged as a significant source of foreign direct investments with the UAE alone investing RO 980 million in Oman in 2011 as the second biggest investor, followed by Kuwait with RO 228 million. The GCC states combined investment in 2011 stood at RO 1.7 billion, followed by the United States RO 517 million (down by 41 per cent compared with 2010).
Oman Daily Observer
30 July
