Muscat: Oman Investment Authority has said that 2019 was the most successful year in its history in terms of investments, as the OIA posted average revenue of 9.5 per cent.

In response to what was circulated about the OIA’s nature of work, the performance of its investments, its strategic decisions, and the volume of loans of state-owned firms, the OIA said in a statement that it tackled investments that generated double the original value of invested sums.

In addition, the OIA entered into new investments in the fields of space, food technology, and infrastructure and enhanced its investment position in different markets in China, Japan and South Korea, with the number of countries in which the OIA has investments rising to more than 25, read the statement.

The OIA also enhanced the State’s general budget without affecting its own financial position and without being compelled to compromise any of its assets.

The statement added that the OIA has been able to take safe investment decisions, either by clearing some of its assets concurrently upon the shutting down of global firms associated with those assets and by safely exiting the investments that have vague, unorganised data or canceling partnerships that constitute no positive results to minimize risk proportions and spare the OIA possible losses.

The OIA localised some techniques in the Sultanate and re-channeled some investments into different sectors and new markets, the statement added.

As for loans of state-owned companies, the statement said that borrowing is among normal business practices and that it is the least costly instrument of funding, notably at a time when companies are taking up new projects and expanding in operations without consuming their capital or available liquidity and without ledgering the burden of financing in disfavor of the state’s general finance.

In this context, the statement explained that a company may opt for investing its available liquidity to gain higher returns compared to the value it pays as cost of low-interest debt it receives. Also, financing parties offer their loans based on feasibility of projects to be funded to ensure the borrower’s ability to refund the loan and its associated expenses, said the statement, noting that firms’ borrowing does not necessarily mean their susceptibility to loss.

The OIA reaffirmed its attention to the issue of loans of state-owned firms that became affiliated to the OIA since June 2020 as per Royal Decree No. 61/2020 establishing Oman Investment Authority, said the statement.

It added that the OIA is laying down a comprehensive structure of governance for state-owned companies that covers all the firms’ operations (including loans) through the devising of policies that require companies to regulate borrowing and financing instruments for the purpose of cutting down the total of those loans.

The OIA also underscored its commitment to apply the best practices of transparency in line with international standards of disclosure of sovereign wealth funds. All data related to the OIA’s operations are accessible either through its Annual Report or OIA website www.oia.gov.om.

The OIA espouses a clearly-defined policy of reporting offenses, codenamed “Whistleblowing Policy”, which provides a safe communication channel that guarantees confidentiality and speed of access to the Auditing Committee that directly reports to the Board of Directors, without divulging the identity of the reporter.

The reporters can send their findings via email (whistleblowing@oia.gov.om) or call the OIA hotline (24745700).

At the conclusion of its statement, the OIA commended society’s seeking news from official sources and cross-checking the credibility of all data circulated via different means of communication and information.