Qais Mohammed Al Yousef, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, today conferred with representatives of Taiwanese tech giant EONH Private Holdings – a company specialising in semiconductors, and China’s Jetour Global – a leading electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer, to discuss opportunities for localising future industries and enhancing the Sultanate of Oman’s position as an advanced industrial hub. The overall goal is to meet the objectives of Oman Industrial Strategy 2040.

During the meeting, Al Yousef affirmed the Ministry’s commitment to attract quality investments in promising sectors and provide incentives to support relevant projects. This approach, he said, calls for joint cooperation between government and private establishments to ensure the success of such investments and consolidate Oman’s regional and international status.

For his part, Steve Chao, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Taiwanese company EONH Private Holdings, said that the company chose the Sultanate of Oman as the first investment destination in the region. EONH Private Holdings seeks to establish a factory specialising in semiconductor chips, the core component for the technologies of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) and artificial intelligence (AI).

Chao added that the initiative aims to transfer knowledge and expertise and train local cadres by establishing a specialised centre for the promotion of the transforming industries sector. This, he explained, will enhance the chances for the competitiveness of the Sultanate of Oman as an industrial hub.

The representative of Jetour Global outlined the company’s plans to invest in the EV sector in the Sultanate of Oman, noting that initial studies indicate that the volume of the company’s expected investment will be about RO 6.9 billion (18 billion US dollars), along with chances of generating 10,000 employment opportunities. The project is scheduled to be carried out within two years of the official announcement.

Meanwhile, Dr. Saleh Said Masan, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion for Commerce and Industry, said that the abovementioned projects are in line with the priorities of the Industrial Strategy 2040. The strategy, he added, focuses on capital-intensive industries and knowledge-based industries like semiconductors, EVs and batteries.

In this context, Masan stressed the need to provide quality incentives for such investments. He called for the formation of a technical team to develop an executive plan to localise industrial projects and ensure the realization of the desired objectives.

By endorsing initiatives to introduce investment opportunities, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion aims to consolidate economic diversification, enable the private sector to contribute to raising in-country value (ICV) and expand the diversification of industrial facilities across the governorates of the Sultanate of Oman. This will in turn boost the industrial sector’s contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).