Buses made in the Sultanate of Oman are proving to be one of the most prominent means of transport to commute fans in the Qatar World Cup.
The bus project is part of a strategic investment initiative between Qatar, represented by the National Transport Company (Qatar Mowasalat), and the Sultanate of Oman, represented by the Oman Investment Authority. In its early stages, production focused on the production of buses for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The investment reached $71 million in the joint venture of Oman Investment Authority (30 per cent) and Qatar Transport Company (70 per cent). This investment is meant to achieve the economic diversification goals and priorities of Oman Vision 2040.
The new bus bears the brand ‘Salam’ and ‘Made in the Sultanate of Oman’ tags. The buses are manufactured by the ‘Karwa Automotive’ company, which is specialised in manufacturing and assembling buses in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm. Public transport buses play a major role in transporting the masses.
Dr Saad bin Ahmed al Mohannadi, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Karwa Automotive Company, revealed at the beginning of this year that the company’s target market at present is Gulf.
The company is a partnership strategy between the Sultanate of Oman and Qatar, which reflects the strong political, economic and commercial ties between the two brotherly countries.
The bus project has in-country value contributing to youth empowerment and creating more than 300 direct and indirect jobs.
The Oman Investment Authority (OIA) invests in such projects to enhance the Sultanate of Oman’s efforts towards economic diversification and in harmony with the vision of strengthening the logistic sector, which aims to make the Sultanate an industrial hub.
In addition, such projects help build technical knowledge in the automotive sector in the Sultanate of Oman and contribute to the development of a group of primary industries that feed the sector.
The last batch of electric buses for the World Cup had about 130 buses, thus completing the supply of all-electric buses with a total of 741 electric buses.
They are entirely operated by Mowasalat Company (Karwa) as part of public transportation to serve transportation operations during the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022.
The project also supports an exceptional ‘eco-friendly’ and ‘carbon neutral’ World Cup.
Karwa buses provide all modern, comfortable and environmentally friendly transportation solutions using the latest technologies to create world-class transportation facilities in preparation for hosting the Fifa World Cup Qatar 2022.
Mowasalat will be one of the mainstays in transporting fans, athletes and all tournament guests through the largest operation of electric buses in the history of sports tournaments.
@afrahalbalushia
