An agrifood manufacturing plant was recently inaugurated in the Raysut Industrial Estate (RYIE), in Oman’s southern province of Dhofar. A subsidiary of the Muscat Overseas Group, the new plant was constructed with a 500,000 Omani rial ($1.29 million) investment, Omandaily reported. The factory, currently manned by 13 workers, will produce a variety of processed and canned vegetables, fruits and jam products.
The development of a local agrifood processing industry is receiving priority support from the Sultanate's government. The Muscat Overseas Group, together with other local groups Shanfari, Galfar, ASB and Jobcorb, established the Salalah Flour Mills company in 1997, also located in the RYIE. The flourmills, whose production capacity reaches 300 metric tons (MT) per day, were set up in a bid to supply the national demand for wheat flour.
Owned by the Al-Mashani family, the Muscat Overseas Group's interests extend to the areas of commercial trading, real estate contracting, industrial project development, marine oil & gas drilling, travel and cargo, and agriculture including irrigation, landscaping and farm development. The group, established in 1974, has also been actively involved in forming consortiums for several privatization projects.
RYIE was set up in 1992, to encourage Omanis to invest in the national industry and in order to diversify and privatize the Sultanate’s economy. The estate offers various financial benefits to investors, including exemption from custom duty on imported raw material and industrial machinery, and an extendable five-year tax moratorium.
Located 15 kilometers from Salalah port and 1,000 Km away from capital Muscat, the 1.159 square kilometer estate is home to Raysut Cement, Dhofar for Vegetable Oil, Dhofar for Fish Industry, Agricultural Fertilizers and Salalah Medical Supplies, among others. At RYIE industries are zoned in such a way that highly polluting industries are kept far away from foodstuff.
There are currently five industrial estates operating under Public Establishment for industrial Estates (PEIE) throughout Oman in Rusayl, Sohar, Rasyut, Nizwa and Buralmi. More estates in Sur and Khasab are being planned. Factories located in these five zones manufacture textiles, furniture, foodstuffs, detergents, cables, fiber optics, pharmaceuticals, car batteries, radiators and filters. — (menareport.com)
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
