— The Saudi-Omani Investment Forum kicked off in Muscat Monday with the participation of Minister of Investment Eng. Khalid Bin Abdulaziz Al-Falih, Omani Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion Qais Bin Mohammed Al-Yousef, and Chairman of the Omani Chamber of Commerce and Industry Redha Bin Jumah Al-Saleh. Eng. Al-Falih said: “There is no doubt that our two countries, like others in the world, are living and developing under the same accelerating circumstances and changes that the entire world is facing, and the two countries are witnessing speedy changes in the economic factors and relevant diversification in the economic resources, reengineering the global supply chains, drastic changes in the energy fields and their resources and factors related to protecting the environment and facing climate change, growing reliance on smart technologies, and new circumstances imposed on the world by the need to live with the coronavirus pandemic that forced world countries to think and plan for the post-pandemic era.” The minister also noted that the development and transformation trends in the two countries, mainly the Saudi Vision 2030 and Oman Vision 2040, have provided a greater area to create several joint strategic, qualitative investment opportunities that can benefit from strategic characteristics of the two countries, including the natural resources, the distinguished demographic structures of Saudi Arabia and Oman, the strategic location that makes the main cargo routes and logistic services capabilities in them of big importance, and working on supporting and developing these opportunities and realizing them through partnership and cooperation between the public and private sectors of the two sides. He also stressed that Saudi Arabia and Oman are full of promising investment opportunities that provide a fertile ground to establish diversified investment partnerships between the Saudi and Omani business sectors, especially that the targeted investment volume under the Saudi Vision 2030 reaches SR12 trillion, while Omani Vision 2040 is full of ambitious targets, such as increasing the foreign investment percentage to the GDP to 10%, and increasing the contribution of non-oil sectors to the GDP to more than 90%. Eng. Al-Falih also pointed out that there should be action after this visit and these meetings to follow up on several important subjects, such as identifying promising strategic sectors in the two countries through which integration can be reached between the two economies, reviewing investment opportunities with high profitability and ready for execution, which can be classified as quick gains that enhance confidence and support our breakthrough at the medium and long terms, creating an investment-attracting environment through developing empowering legislation, overcoming obstacles that might face investors, and creating action channels and partnership between private sector institutions in the two countries, including the joint business council, under the umbrella of chamber councils between the two countries. For his part, Al-Yousef said that attractive competitive factors, the stimulus investment environment and promising projects are all factors that stress that there is a timely opportunity for businesspeople and investors from Saudi Arabia to start their investments in Oman, engage in partnerships with their Omani counterparts, and build a growing partnership in strategic economic sectors that interest both countries. Al-Yousef also said that: “We, for our part, are proud to offer all facilities and services for all Saudi investors, where Saudi investors receive a reciprocal treatment to that Omani investors receive, and we will be keen to offer all types of support and cooperation to speed up investment and commercial work between the two brotherly countries, and we are fully ready to offer our services to any interested investor individually and privately.” Meanwhile, Al-Saleh said that the forum aims at enhancing economic and commercial cooperation between the public and private sectors of the two countries, developing commercial ties, getting acquainted with expertise, exchanging expertise, intensifying efforts to create special commercial and economic partnerships in the targeted sectors in the national visions of our two brotherly countries: Oman Vision 2040 and Saudi Vision 2030. During the meeting, Saudi Arabia and Oman signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in encouraging investment, where the agreement was signed by Eng. Al-Falih and Al-Yousef. Saudi Ambassador to Oman Abdullah Bin Saud Al-Enezi, Omani Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Sayyid Faisal Bin Turki Al-Said, and leading figures from the public and private sectors and senior businesspeople in the two countries attended the inauguration of the forum. — SPA