India is our most important economic partner: Oman Minister

Mumbai, Sep 7 (UNI) Oman Minister of Commerce and Industry, Maqool Ali Sultan, today said that India was the most important economic partner for his country.

Addressing a meeting organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and the Omani Centre for Investment Promotion and Export Development (OCIPED) here, he said that imports from India to Oman in 2005 were 397 million USD, an increase of 142 per cent while exports from Oman to India were 366 million USD which showed an increase of 472 per cent. He added that there was immense potential to further strengthen this relationship in the fields of information technology, tourism and human resource development and training and knowledge based industries such as ICTs, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology.

The proposed bilateral co-operation between the two countries will create a framework for business growth in addition to other factors like macro-economic stability, transparent governance and joint ventures, he said.

Mr Sultan also stated that India can benefit hugely from Oman's FTA with USA while proposals for FTA's with EU and AGCC have been made, which will broaden the market space for Indian businessmen.

Oman has established a free zone at Salalah in southern Oman that offers incentives such as a 100 per cent foreign ownership, no customs duty, no personal income tax, no corporate, competitive utility rates and one stop-shop facilities. Salalah has a lot of importance to India as it is the gateway to Indian Ocean rim countries. It is located on major trade routes, giving investors access to a potential market of 1.2 billion consumers, said the deputy CEO of Salalah Free Trade Zone, Eng. Mohammad Al Theeb, on the occasion.

Prior to this the chairman of CII Gulf Council, M A Pathan, informed that Indian companies like Tata, BPL, Onida, Hindustan Lever, Godrej and Videocon besides others have invested in Oman in various sectors like machinery, electrical items, iron, steel, textiles and manufacturing and financial sectors and this has resulted in a 31 per cent rise in bilateral trade between the two countries.

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