03-Feb-2020
A number of consultants and investors have said that the Foreign Capital Investment Law will create new investment avenues in the Sultanate of Oman. It will also drive the growth of direct and indirect job opportunities for Omanis, curb hidden trade and support the regulation of the labour market.
Dr Ahmad bin Abdul Karim al Hooti, a member of the Board of Directors of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: “The Foreign Capital Investment Law is an important and necessary requirement to attract more investments in the Sultanate.
It was also needed to regulate the investment process. It is comprised of a set of rules to regulate the commercial and economic process inside the Sultanate. The advantages and incentives of the investment must be clear in the annex to be issued later.
The Sultanate is now going through a very important stage which requires investors to come to the Sultanate. This has to be studied properly and looked into possibilities of increasing the incentives offered to investors.”
Dr Al Hooti noted that the new law will regulate hidden trade, which will ultimately end with a real investor managing his or her investment. “The current situation regarding the foreign capital limits is that the investor should realize that the system would continue monitoring it. There should be real money invested. Also there should be knowledge, experience and technology to help the investor being transferred from any country to the Sultanate.”
Dr Yusuf bin Hamad al Balushi, Chief Executive Officer of the Smart Investment Portal, said: “If we look at our current situation, we find that the Omani economy is at a crossroads. It is in an exceptional circumstance where there are seeds of success sown everywhere. The thing it required is well studied policies and interventions which should be simultaneous and consistent. In fact, the Sultanate, with its wide community participation, completed the formulation of the Oman 2040 Vision. The vision also talks about international cooperation, attracting investment, expanding the production base, export and entrepreneurship. In fact, the launch of the Oman Vision 2040 gave an opportunity to move to a new phase and pattern of growth.”
Dr Adel al Miqdadi, former associate professor at the Law Faculty of Sultan Qaboos University, and legal adviser at the office of Dr Ahmed Said Al-Jahwary Law Firm and Legal Consultations, said: “The Foreign Capital Investment Law (50/2019) is considered one of the important laws as this law replaced the previous law (102/1994). This law has many advantages which were not in the previous law. He indicated that the new law permits a foreign investor to own the investment project alone or in association with a foreign investor or in association with an Omani. The law did not restrict the foreign investor to have minimum limit in the capital of the project he or she has started. Earlier, there was a limit of RO 150,000 for their ownership in a project. The new law has several other advantages and incentives. It exempts the foreign investment from tax and customs duties as well as makes many procedures to establish an investment project easy.” Dr Adel al Miqdadi said: “If the investor takes advantage of the benefits provided under the new law, he will be able to obtain tax exemption and exemption from customs fees when importing items required for his investment project. They can have a long-term benefits of these investments. They also have right to transfer the investment project’s capital, profits and funds to his country after liquidation of his investment project.”
Courtesy: https://www.omanobserver.om