Belarus wants to create industrial hub in Oman's Sohar Port, Freezone
MINSK. Dec 17 (Interfax) - Belarus plans to establish an industrial and logistics hub in Oman's Sohar Port and Freezone to promote its goods in third-country markets, Belarusian Industry Minister Alexander Yefimov said.
"The purpose of visiting the port and the freezone is to select a site for creating joint ventures, and in the future implement a project to form a hub for Belarusian industrial goods in the Sultanate of Oman to promote our products in third-country markets," Yefimov was quoted as saying by the state agency BelTA.
Yefimov is currently in Oman as part of a Belarusian delegation led by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.
"Given the favorable logistical location of this port, our interests are specifically tied to establishing our industrial hub here. We are primarily considering freezone sites to house future joint ventures," Yefimov said.
Belarus aims to produce a wide range of industrial products in Oman, he said. "This includes [for] the domestic market. They need agricultural products, tractors and related equipment - trailers, mounted equipment, municipal and road construction machinery. Products with significant potential include those that can be redirected to third-country markets, where the list expands significantly. This includes mining and heavy-duty equipment as well as everything related to logistical infrastructure. This range of technologies and products is what we are ready to offer our Omani partners for implementation on their territory," he said.
Sohar Port was built in 2002. It is located southeast of the Strait of Hormuz on the coast of the Gulf of Oman. The port handles over 1 million tonnes of maritime cargo per week and around 3,500 vessels per year. The Sohar Freezone was established in 2010 near the port, with resident company investments exceeding $26 billion. The freezone hosts enterprises in petrochemicals, logistics, plastics manufacturing, metallurgy, mining, food production and the automotive industry.