Muscat – As part of the official visit of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik to the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Omani-Iranian Business Council signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Iran Khodro Industrial Group on Monday.

The MoU will see an economic and commercial feasibility study being conducted to find a suitable platform to sell cars and for after-sales service.

The MoU was signed by Mohammed Abdul Hussein Baqir, Head of the Omani side in the business council, and Alimardan Azimi, CEO of Iran Khodro Industrial Group.

In 2016, an MoU was signed by Oman Investment Fund, Iran Khodro and an Omani investor for the creation of a joint venture to establish a car manufacturing facility with capital expenditure of US$200mn in Duqm.

The initial plan included starting an assembly unit and then to have a full-fledged manufacturing facility. The plant was expected to start production by 2017 but no development on the project has been reported since.