Muscat: The Special Economic Zone in Duqm (SEZAD) signed an agreement with an alliance headed by Fisheries Development Oman (FDO) to develop and operate the multipurpose fishing Harbour in Duqm.

FDO, an affiliate of Oman Investment Authority (OIA), also inked a land development agreement (usufruct) with Al Wusta Fisheries Industries LLC.

The 10-metre deep port, set up on an area of 8 square kms at a cost of RO63 million, is expected to be fully functional by the end of the first quarter of 2021.

It is ideally situated in the vicinity of the food industries zone occupying an area of 7 sq. kms designed to meet the basic needs of investments set to be localised.

The two agreements were signed under the auspices of Dr. Saud bin Hamoud al-Habsi, Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources.

The fishing harbour’s agreement was signed by Eng. Yahya bin Khamis al-Zadjali, In-Charge of Managing Operations of SEZAD, while Eng. Dawood bin Sulaiman al-Wahaibi, CEO of Al-Wusta Fisheries Industries LLC, signed the second agreement. The FDO was represented by its CEO, Khalid bin Ali al-Yahmadi.

Eng. Yahya said that the agreements come within the context of efforts to attract local and international investments and benefit from modern infrastructure at the Economic Zone and incentives offered to investors.

The Economic Zone has so far attracted a number of investments to the tune of RO135 million in fisheries industries and superstructures, said Eng. Yahya, adding that more investments could unveil after the start of operations of the fishing jetty.

On his turn, Eng. Dawood pointed out that a masterplan is being sketched for the harbour and that a comprehensive concept will be formulated over the next three months about the future growth of the facility, in particular, and the fisheries resources sector in general.

Meanwhile, Khalid al-Yahmadi said that the fishing harbour’s management project caps up the schema of projects that the FDO started in Muscat Governorate.

The projects include a sea bream fish farming project in the Wilayat of Qurayat, which has an output of 3,000 tons and two shrimp projects in South A’Sharqiyah having an output of 9,000 tons as a first phase that can be expanded to 15,000 tons, he added.

He noted that FDO currently has an output of 63,000 tons from three main projects in fish farming and commercial fishing, and that the company’s projects in Al Wusta Governorate will be in the Wilayat of Al-Jazir.

There will be a shrimp project with a capacity of 24,000 metric tons per annum (to come up in two phases 14,000+10,000 tons), said Al-Yahmadi, emphasizing that Al Wusta will host most of the company’s projects in the future.

FDO’s largest project is situated at Barr Al-Hikman, where a fish farming unit will produce (initially) about 215,000 tons of shrimps in a fish culture area of 40 square meters.

Following this experience, more added value projects will be set up in the Wilayat of Duqm, he said.

Al-Yahmadi added that two companies were incorporated into the FDO, which were Oman Fisheries Company and Sea Products International, and that the move gives a fillip to the operations of the FDO, which, along with its subsidiary firms, envisages an output of 600,000 tons by 2035.

The signing ceremony was attended by Dr. Ali bin Masoud al-Sunaidi, Chairman of OPAZ (the Public Authority for Economic Zones and Free Zones), Abdussalam bin Mohammed al-Murshidi, OIA Chairman, and a number of CEOs and SEZAD officials.