Sohar turns into an industrial hub

Being the most developed city in Sultanate of Oman outside the capital city of Muscat, Sohar was the ancient capital of Oman and has a rich history as a fishing town. Today, Sohar has become a busy industrial centre with massive developments being undertaken in its industrial port. The dramatic upsurge in investment has pushed economic activities in Sohar. Both local and foreign investors are now taking a closer look at Sohar's potentials encouraged by the proliferation of projects and aggressive investments from major industry players in the Sohar industrial area where the Sohar port is located. The Sohar Port was established in 2002 and it is operated by Sohar Industrial Port Company (SIPC). The Sohar Port is considered a world class port with current investments exceeding $12 billion making it one of the world's largest port development projects with facilities including an 116,400-barrels-per-day oil refinery, a $2.3 billion aluminium smelter and a $1.6 billion aromatics plant. The Omani government placed the development of the city of Sohar as one of its priorities in the future plan for the Omani economy in 2020. The Omani government's resolve to transform Sohar into a business and industrial hub away from being dependent on revenues from oil is reflected in the government's various investments in the city. For instance, the Omani government is investing more than $5 billion in the steel industry in a bid to turn the country into one of the Gulf's leading steel producers. SIPC also announced plans to seek an additional $2.5 billion in investment in the next five years. The additional investment is being sought for the planned special economic zone to augment the existing port and industry facilities. As announced by Mr. Jamal Tawfiq Aziz, the deputy CEO of SIPC, it is encouraging investments into such industries as plastics, metals and petrochemicals in the Sohar free zone. Ongoing improvements in Sohar's maritime facilities are being undertaken to attract more industries. The port itself currently has a draught of 18 metres with funding being allocated to extend the deepwater jetty to1.2 km. A consortium of banks including Bank Muscat, National Bank of Oman, Bank Dhofar, Ahli Bank and State Bank of India already signed a $200 million loan agreement with SIPC to finance the project. The project will be constructed by Italy's Saipem and India's Afcons in a joint venture, and will enable the port to improve its dry bulk facilities. The favourable investment climate created by the Omani government has captured the interests of leading companies to locate their operations in Sohar. These include the Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto Alcan's decision to construct aluminium smelting facilities, while the Brazilian mining giant Vale has invested about $1.5 billion in an iron ore pelletising plant with an annual capacity of 9 million tonnes to start operation in 2010. Additional facilities are being planned in the future to boost the production of steel and petrochemical clusters.(finished)Nike Mercurial Superfly