London: For promoting the Sultanate of Oman as an international destination with potentials for investment in green energy, the two-day ‘Oman Renewable Energy Conference’ will commence on Wednesday. The inaugural of the conference will be under the auspices of Abdulsalam Mohammed Al Murshidi, Chairman of Oman Investment Authority (OIA).

The conference is organised by the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion (MoCIIP) in cooperation with the Foreign Ministry represented by the Sultanate’s embassy in London.

Oman Renewable Energy Conference aimed to promote the Sultanate and to increase its share of non-oil Omani exports in the international market. It also aimed to boost exports and to acquaint with the investment climate in the Sultanate and organisation of programmes, seminars, exhibitions and bilateral meetings.
Asilah bint Salim Al Samsami, Undersecretary of MoCIIP said that the conference aimed to attract and acquaint the international business community with the opportunities available in green energy sector and in the industry, tourism, fisheries, mining, logistics sectors.

The conference also aimed to acquaint the participants with the investment environment in the Sultanate and the facilities and incentives offered by the Government of Oman for investors, she said adding that it also aimed to review the opportunities for investment cooperation in the renewable energy sector between the Sultanate of Oman and the United Kingdom.

The conference would also focus on the opportunities, potentials, incentives and benefits that can be offered to British investors and on the Sultanate’s view on clean energy as one of the key sectors targeted by Oman Vision 2040 and the Sultanate’s national strategy for energy.

She said that the Sultanate has already commenced with execution of a number of projects in green energy for generating 30 per cent of electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030.

The conference would see organisation of direct bilateral meetings with the British companies specialised in the sector.

A number of available investment opportunities in the field would be offered to British investors, she added.

She said that the significance of the British market stems from the fact that it is the largest investment partner for the Sultanate of Oman as the partnerships have expanded during the last few years to cover a number of sectors mainly the oil and gas and technology sector, the infrastructure sector, defence sector and education sector.

The United Kingdom has topped the list in terms of direct foreign investments by end of 2020 with total investments of RO 7.112 billion.
She also pointed to that the Sultanate, represented by Oman Investment Authority, signed last January a partnership agreement with the British side for enhancement of investment cooperation in the field of clean energy and information technology in order to attract more British investments in the targeted sectors.
It is worth mentioning that the Sultanate has offered various facilities to attract investments. These facilities included updating the Foreign capital Investment law and permission of ownership of 100%  among other incentives and guarantees for foreign investors besides the launch of a programme for residence of investors for renewable 5 to 10 years under clear controls and procedures offering the investor encouraging benefits and incentives.