ABCC Events
Opportunities in the Sultanate of Oman The centuries old friendship of the UK and Oman was extolled by high-level speakers from both countries at the business event, Opportunities in the Sultanate of Oman, held at the Chamber on 5th March.
The event attracted upwards of a hundred potential investors, exporters and business executives with an interest in doing business with Oman.
He stressed that the historic UK-Oman relationship was about more than business but was based on friendship, as shown by the huge number of condolences that the UK had sent to Oman during the mourning for the Sultan. A large official delegation from the UK had also visited Oman during this period, which was highly appreciated by Omanis.
Mr Abdeslam El-Idrissi, Deputy CEO & Secretary General, ABCC, chairing the event, first introduced Mr Bandar Reda, ABCC CEO & Secretary General, who formally welcomed the panel of distinguished speakers and audience.
The strength of the UK presence in Oman was evident from the 50% contribution made by UK investors to Oman’s total FDI.
Mr Reda stressed that the UK and Oman had enjoyed a friendship going back centuries and extolled the new and emerging opportunities. Dignitaries in attendance included H E Mr Ibrahim Mohieldeen, Ambassador for the League of Arab States in London. Conducting a straw poll of the audience, Mr El-Idrissi established that a large proportion of the attendees had made visits to Oman. He stressed
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the growing importance of Oman to the UK in the post-Brexit period. H E Mr Qais Mohammed Al Yousef, Chairman, Oman Chamber of Commerce & Industry, said that the present moment was a unique one with the passing of the late Sultan, H M Qaboos bin Said, opening up a new era.
While welcoming the high-level of investment, the OCCI Chairman pointed out that there was much room for it to increase given that the majority of FDI was channelled into the oil and gas sector. As the Oman economy took steps to diversify, new opportunities for investors were emerging in the growing non-oil sectors.
