The project, set up by Madayn, the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates, enables investing companies to develop specialised industrial estate complexes, which can be built once approved by Madayn.

Muscat: Local and foreign companies can invest in Oman’s industrial and allied sectors, following the launch of the Madayn Investment Complexes Project.

Companies that develop these investment complexes can then promote them to local and foreign investors to buy or rent, so that they can begin operations immediately, explained Hilal bin Hamad Al Hasani, Madayn Chief Executive Officer.

Development opportunities will be announced for 10 investment complexes in Sohar, Al Buraimi, Samail, and Sur industrial cities in a variety of sectors. The activities of the investment complexes will represent a variety of sectors including multi-industries, food, plastic, and logistics industries.

“These investment complexes shall support the industrial integration between small and large factories, and contribute to encouraging local and foreign investments towards the complementary industries,” said Al Hasani.

“This project shall also offer an opportunity for the SMEs to enter the industrial sector through these investment complexes.”

“SMEs will be able to buy or lease real estate units across small areas that are compatible with their operational and production capacity,” Al Hasani stated.

“With the objective of attracting more investments to the industrial cities as well as mitigating the economic impact of COVID-19 and the global drop of oil prices, we have translated our responsibility towards investors and industrialists by announcing a lineup of incentives to support industrial cities.”

Incentives were announced for Al Buraimi, Ibri, Al Mudhaibi and Thumrait industrial cities, as well as any other industrial city that is announced later.

Incentives include exemption from rental value for a period of two years for all new projects, followed by a reduction in the rental value for a period of three years by 50 per cent for contracts concluded from 2021 to 2024.

The incentives also include reducing fees for IT activity license by 50 per cent for two years from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022 for existing and new projects at Knowledge Oasis Muscat; in addition to not imposing fines for the delay in payments for the years 2020 and 2021.

Al Hasani also shed light on upcoming industrial cities planned in Oman.

Located about 9 km away from Thumrait Air Base towards Marmul, the four million sqm area of Thumrait Industrial City will focus on mining industries such as gypsum and limestone industries, in addition to light industries related to building materials like cement products. Thumrait Industrial City will also be home to several support services such as vehicle maintenance workshops, cold and dry storage facilities, a fuel station and truck weigh station.

Space has also been allocated for commercial projects such as car showrooms, cafes, rest houses, and workforce accommodation, which will be developed through partnership with the private sector as investment opportunities.

Speaking about Ibri Industrial City, Al Hasani said, “Madayn is currently working on the infrastructure works of phase 1 at a cost of approximately OMR9 million in order to develop an area of about three million sqm of infrastructure. This includes asphalt roads with a length of more than 18 km, lighting, water and electricity networks, sewage networks, and communications.”

“The project is in the preparation stage, and a notice of commencement was issued last October, with final delivery of the infrastructure to be done by mid-2023,” he added. “Madayn is also in the process of floating a tender for the one-stop shop in Ibri Industrial City, which will comprise a fuel station, hotel, public amenities, restaurants, and auto care services. The tender document is in the review stage and is expected to be floated before the end of this year.”

The CEO of Madayn added that Mahas Industrial City began with its administrative work in the wilayat of Khasab in Musandam in early October this year to offer services to the factories, investors and businessmen localised within.

Located on an area of more than 1.5 million sqm, Mahas Industrial City presents competitive incentives to support the economic and social development in the governorate, attract local and regional investments, create job opportunities, and enhance the in-country value of the governorate’s natural resources

Al Hasani said, “Work is currently in its final stages to award the tender for road and infrastructure construction of Mahas Industrial City on an area of one million sqm and at a cost of approximately OMR 6 million. The tender is expected to be awarded by the end of December this year and the project implementation to commence by the first quarter of 2022.”

“This project comprises construction of internal road network, installation of lighting fixtures, construction of a bridge linking the industrial city to the main road, electricity, water and communication networks, water and sewage tanks, construction of the administration building, fencing, and rainwater drainage channels.

Madayn has also floated consultancy services tender for Al Mudhaibi Industrial City, which encompasses a detailed design for a total area touching 14 million sqm, and another detailed design for an area of two million sqm. It also includes planning of a number of warehouses and identifying 15 viable investment opportunities that depend on the governorate’s natural resources.

The tender also consists of the allocation and identification of sectors, namely: logistics, industrial, commercial, food, tourism and construction sectors. In addition to these areas, the tender includes carrying out traffic, topographic, and environmental studies.