Lukashenko visiting Sohar Port and Freezone in Oman
President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko continues his working visit to the Sultanate of Oman, and today he is visiting the Sohar Port and Freezone, BelTA reports
These facilities are important in plans to develop trade-economic co-operation.
The day before, Aleksandr Lukashenko told reporters about the proposal of Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq Al Said to create a hub of Belarusian goods in the country.
“It is very important for us to define a point: a port, or maybe we will look at something else. And there we will use our technologies, which are needed in Oman. That’s why, we will use Belarusian technologies to set up JVs here and move west, east, north from here from the Indian Ocean, selling our goods,” the Belarusian leader noted. “The Sultan made a very good proposal to create a hub here: a centre for Belarusian goods. Yesterday I honestly told him that we have learnt to produce a lot of things. We haven’t learnt how to trade very well yet. But they have been able to trade since ancient times, and they promised to help us in this respect.”
The Sohar Port was built in 2002 and is located southeast of the Strait of Hormuz, on the Gulf of Oman. It handles more than 1 million tonnes of sea cargo per week and about 3,500 vessels per year.
The Sohar Freezone was established in 2010 next to the port. The deep-water port and the adjacent free trade zone are located in the administrative centre of the Al Batinah North Governorate in Oman, halfway between the cities of Dubai (UAE) and Muscat (Oman). It occupies an area of 45 square kilometres. The Sohar Freezone is one of four special economic and free zones in Oman, alongside Salalah, Al Mazunah (on the border with Yemen), and the city of Dukm. The port and the free zone are managed by Sohar International Development, a joint venture between the Government of Oman, the Port of Rotterdam (Netherlands) and SKIL Infrastructure, an Indian company.
Since its establishment, the Sohar Freezone has attracted over $26bn in investment and has become one of the most dynamic and successful industrial zones in the Gulf region. In its territory, there are enterprises of petrochemical and logistics industry, plastics production, metallurgy, mining, food and automotive industries.
The advantages of the zone include convenient logistics, no import and re-export duties, exemption from corporate income taxes for up to 25 years and no personal income tax. Manufactured products enjoy a number of benefits under Oman’s intergovernmental agreements.
