Muscat: The total Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) in Oman witnessed an increase over the last year and reached nearly RO 18 billion at the end of the first quarter of 2022, according to the official report released on Sunday.

The volume of FDI increased by 19 per cent at the end of first quarter of 2022 to reach at RO 17.94 billion compared with RO 15.07 billion recorded in the same period in 2021, according to an Oman News Agency report.

The statistics issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI) indicated that the volume of FDI flows attracted until the first quarter of this year reached RO 2.87 billion. The UK topped the list of major FDI contributors for Oman. Total foreign direct investments form the UK in Oman amounted to RO 8.495 billion, accounting for more than 47 per cent of total FDI stock in the sultanate.

As per the NCSI data, the United States ranked as the second biggest contributor of FDI in Oman with total US investments reaching at RO 2.666 billion at the end of the first quarter of this year. The UAE came at third place in terms of its direct investments in the sultanate that reached RO 1.23 billion in total.

The oil and gas sector remained the biggest recipient of the foreign direct investments in Oman. The value of FDI in oil and gas sector rose by 21.8 per cent to RO 11.8 billion in the first quarter of this year compared to a year ago period.

On the other hand, the manufacturing sector – the second largest beneficiary of FDI in the sultanate – attracted total RO 1.6 billion worth of foreign direct investments, recording a decreased of 5.6 per cent compared to the first quarter of last year.

The value of foreign direct investments in the financial intermediation sector reached RO 1.458 billion as of the end of first quarter this year.