Dublin, Ireland – Dr Ali bin Masoud al Sunaidy, the Chairman of the Public Authority for Special Economic and Free Zones (OPAZ), met with Dara Calleary TD, the Irish Minister of State for Trade Promotion Digital and Company Regulation, during the former’s visit to Ireland.

The OPAZ chairman is leading a delegation to Ireland, with officials from the authority, the Special Economic Zone at Duqm, and the Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (Madayn), as part of OPAZ’s institutional transformation plan.

The meeting with Calleary assumes significance as this Irish minister is responsible for regulating economic zones, issuing laws and regulations related to investment, and developing supportive electronic systems.

Since the beginning of this year, OPAZ started a transformation programme in association with International Development Ireland, benefiting from the Irish expertise in managing and developing economic zones.

‘The cooperation aims to enhance the authority’s ability to attract strategic industrial projects and to link supply chains between local and international manufacturers and to empower small and medium size enterprises, and to promote the use of digital platforms and applications,’ OPAZ stated.

During the visit, the delegation also met with the CEO of the Irish Investment Promotion agency ‘IDA Ireland’, the CEO of Enterprise Ireland and the Chair of the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council in Ireland.

The delegation also visited several economic zones, manufacturers and the Centre for Bioprocessing and Training, and discussed the methods of harmonization between different industrial zones, enhancing productivity, and increasing integration between them.
It also explored existing programmes to enhance job opportunities and raise worker efficiency, and skills development. and professional competence and discussed possibilities of collaboration in developing industrial clusters in the various zones in Oman.