The Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources (MoAFWR) has announced as many as 107 food security initiatives currently in different stages of implementation as part of the Oman’s Vision 2040 initiative.
The new initiatives include the establishment of a tissue culture project, which provides an opportunity to produce plants and seedlings with tissue culture techniques, the establishment of central slaughterhouses for the poultry sector, and a complementary initiative to provide the poultry sector’s value chain.
The projects would have in-country value (ICV) with the scope of employment opportunities and increased business.
Speaking to the Observer on the sidelines of the Oman-India Business Forum at the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI), Redha Bait Farg, Director General of Agricultural and Fisheries Marketing at the ministry, said that these projects would add value to the country’s competitiveness in attracting foreign investments.
“These projects, which the ministry is implementing as part of the Oman Vision 2040 aim to fulfil its role in achieving the common goal of self-sufficiency and ICV besides attracting more FDI to the Sultanate of Oman,” he said.
The Sultanate of Oman has achieved a self-sufficiency ratio of 90 per cent in milk production and 65 per cent in eggs production; vegetables 77 per cent; 60 per cent in poultry; 53 per cent in red meat; and 26 per cent in fruits, while self-sufficiency rates in dates cultivation touched 100 per cent and fish 137 per cent.
One of the other major projects of the ministry is developing and operating the sea fishing port in Liwa and Sur. The project aims to improve and invest in the infrastructure of fishing ports with additional services. The fourth initiative is establishing factories to produce industrial salt, which aims to extract salt from the water returned through a desalination process. Lastly, the MoAFWR will also use treated wastewater in the lands around the plants to take advantage of excess treated wastewater at sewage plants in various provinces of Oman.
“The Sultanate of Oman has all the ingredients that make it an attractive environment for investment in many sectors for many factors. One of them is the country’s strategic geographical location, political and economic stability, attractive opportunities for investment, legal and institutional framework, a world-class infrastructure, developed banking sector, and above all, adequate infrastructure in Agri and fisheries sectors.”
He further added that the ministry has been keen on allocating lands for investment for food security projects, determining the crop composition of each site to be offered for auction or direct attribution, determining the cost of production inputs, the challenges associated with them, and the proposed solutions for each input for the best results for both domestic and international investors.
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