The total investments in Oman’s industrial cities, which are managed by the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (Madayn), have reached RO6.6bn by the end of 2019.

Madayn is now working towards developing Madayn Vision 2040 to be along the lines of Oman’s Vision 2040, according to Hasan bin Marhoon al Marhoon, director-general of planning and business development at Madayn.

The sultanate’s industrial cities recorded a growth of 1.54 per cent in gross investments in 2019 compared to the previous year. The number of workforce in Madayn’s industrial cities at the end of 2019 reached 61,213, with Omanisation percentage touching 34 per cent, according to a press statement issued by 

Madayn.

“Through the development of Madayn Vision 2040, we aim at establishing world-class business cities while maintaining the Omani identity. Madayn aims at emphasising its role in promoting comprehensive and sustainable economic and social development through enhancing public-private partnership in order to develop and operate integrated business cities,” Marhoon said.

The number of investment projects in the industrial cities reached 2,313 projects at the end of 2019, of which 1,759 are existing projects, 285 are under construction and 269 projects have been allocated with spaces.

Moreover, the total area of Madayn’s industrial cities reached 114,306,724 sq m by the end of 2019 with a utilisation rate of 52 per cent of the total investable area.

Marhoon elaborated that the growth in the total investments in all the industrial cities during 2019 amounted to RO101mn. Suhar Industrial City recorded the highest growth in investments last year compared to other industrial cities.

“The total investments in Suhar Industrial City increased by RO24mn, bringing the cumulative volume of the investments by the end of 2019 in Suhar to RO2.2bn. This increase is attributed to the investments of companies that were introduced in Suhar Industrial City during 2019,” he said.

Al Rusayl and Suhar Industrial Cities account for nearly two-thirds of the total workforce within Madayn’s industrial cities. The percentage of the workforce in the two industrial cities is 35 per cent and 28 per cent, respectively.

Marhoon emphasised that Madayn strives to develop and deliver its services in accordance with the requirements of investors, and has flexibility in dealing to help reduce time and efforts of investors, beneficiaries and Madayn employees alike. In 2019, the number of approved industrial plans touched 135, the number of approved building permits reached 191, and the number of approved business permits amounted to 2,556.

Moreover, the number of licences approved in 2019 reached 1,045; of which, 601 licences for industrial activities, 301 licences for commercial activities, 93 licences for service activities, 43 licences for logistical activities, five licences for residential and real estate activities.

Marhoon added that 102 projects have been localised during 2019 at various stages of implementation, noting a growth rate of 4.6 per cent compared to 2018. Of these projects, 76 per cent are existing projects, 12 per cent have been allocated with spaces, and 12 per cent are under construction. 

Al Buraimi Industrial City topped the other industrial cities in terms of the total number of projects. By the end of 2019, the number of projects in Al Buraimi Industrial City touched 508 and is followed by Suhar Industrial City with 416 projects.