Oman has invited proposals for eight manufacturing projects involving a total investment of $46.75 million.
The projects were presented at an industrial road show recently held in Salalah and which was said by the local press to have attracted strong investor response. Organisers of the event were the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Gulf Organisation for Industrial Consulting (Goic), the Oman Development Bank, the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Omani Centre for Investment Promotion and Export Development (Ociped).
The projects, researched and compiled by Goic, included a $18.87 million, 5000 tonnes-per-year (tpy) unit at Sohar to manufacture ultra-thin aluminium foil for the packaging industry, a $13.11 million "narrow" cold-rolling plant to produce 35,000 tpy of cold- rolled steel sheets and a $1.23 million seafood cans factory of capacity 39 million cans.
The list also includes a $3.85 million plant with the capacity to produce 2,520 tpy of soya protein concentrate for use as an enhancer for infant formula and 4,680 tpy of soya-based animal protein as well as a unit to make biofertilisers.
Other projects listed were ones for making round air-conditioning ducts, teflon lined/sleeved industrial valves and glass reinforced gypsum panels. The market for new AC ducts and ventilation systems in Oman is estimated at around $15 million per year.
Equally attractive is the market for teflon-lined or sleeved industrial valves for the chemicals sector. At 16,200 units per year, the project can meet five per cent of the GCC demand for such valves.
