Oman interested in Russian investment - Omani ambassador

MOSCOW. Oct 1 (Interfax) - Oman is interested in attracting Russian investment and aims to liberalize conditions for foreign businesses, Omani Ambassador to Russia Hamood bin Salim bin Abdullah Altowaiya said answering a question from Interfax.

"I am urging all Russian companies to consider Oman as a target of their investment. Oman has things to offer both to transnational corporations and small businesses," Altowaiya said at the Russian Chamber of Commerce and Industry's conference titled 'Prospects and Specifics of Doing Business in the Sultanate of Oman.'

The Omani government has taken a number of political and economic measures to attract foreign investment, including preferential tax rates, capital repatriation and simplifying bureaucratic procedures," Altowaiya said. "These measures have helped create an attractive economic environment ready for investment," he said.

The strategic geographic position and well-developed logistics of Oman make it a potential hub for companies seeking to expand their operations inside and outside the region, Altowaiya said.

In turn, Director of the Russian Industry and Trade Ministry's Department for Asia, Africa and Latin America Sergei Nosov said at the conference, "The interest of Russian businesses in Gulf countries has been on the rise in recent years, primarily due to the refocusing of foreign economic operations."

"Our efforts are focused on the primary objective, i.e. ensuring technological leadership and sovereignty, but we are perfectly aware that we cannot achieve this alone. There is a need for close international cooperation with reliable partners, to the ranks of which we definitely attribute Oman," Nosov said.

There is a broad range of areas for bilateral cooperation, and Russia's focus is on the priorities of the Sultanate of Oman's development strategy, including those in pharmaceuticals, renewable energy, and digital technologies, he said.

"The region of the Middle East and North Africa has been of a great interest to Russian companies in recent years from the point of view of industrial and logistics capacities. The special economic zones of Oman are developing and can turn into attractive venues for cooperation," Nosov said.

For his part, Russian-Omani Business Council Chairman Alexei Rubtsov said that such meetings of Russian and Omani representatives give a substantial impetus to the development of bilateral cooperation.

"Bilateral trade is growing, it is rising by tens of percent in terms of various kinds of equipment. Russia is increasing imports from Oman; it has grown 6.5-fold over the past year," Rubtsov said.