Oman’s Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE) is holding a “Big Ideas Tent” exhibition and seminar this month.

The event, being organised in partnership with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, will be held on February 9 and 10 at Sohar Industrial Estate. The two-day programme is being held to celebrate Oman’s Industry Day, the organisers said in a statement.
“The purpose of the Big Ideas Tent is to stimulate new thinking in areas of importance to manufacturing and to help PEIE identify areas in which it should be seeking to develop new services or support,” said PEIE’s media and communications co-ordinator Nasser Al Rahbi.
The seminars will be moderated by eminent figures in the field and bring together a panel of expert thinkers and practitioners for a full and frank discussion. The seminars and exhibition are free of charge and open to all though participants are required to register in advance.
“There’s always plenty to talk about in manufacturing,” says Al Rahbi. “So to focus seminar discussion we’re inviting delegates to submit questions in advance via e-mail.  These can be short or long, plain or nuanced, serious, heartfelt, flippant or funny. The seminar chair will also open up each question to the audience, so that everyone is free to join the debate and to challenge or develop points made by the various panels. The event is intended to be lively and highly interactive,” he said.
Panelists for the five seminars include representatives from Reem Batteries, Intilaaqah, Jotun, Amouage, Infocomm, GroFin Oman, Hussam Technology, Teclution, Sharaka, Knowledge Horizon, Total Alignment, Microsoft, Ericsson, Oracle, Cisco, Oman Cables and Sohar Aluminium.
Meanwhile, Rusayl Industrial Estate, near Muscat city, has acquired about 200,000 sq m of land at the Al Misfat area.
The move aims at meeting the growing needs of investors interested in setting up projects at the estate, the company’s director-general Hamad Bin Salim Al Harthy said, adding that a survey was underway for the expansion.
The aim of this survey is to identify the number of plots that will be included in the expansion so that they can be distributed according to sectors, utilities, services and infrastructure that will be set up in the area, he said.