Industry

Vision 2020’s economic diversification mandate has seen Oman’s industrial segment expand rapidly in recent years, with the non-oil sector expanding by 7.6% in 2013. The strong growth being witnessed in the petrochemicals, aluminium, steel and mining segments is expected to continue with government investment in the industrial sector projected to reach $517.88m between 2014 and 2020. Sohar, with its host of new infrastructure and raw production projects completed in recent years, is set to become Oman’s dominant industrial hub. The petrochemicals segment is also poised for strong development with total investment reaching $16.59bn in 2013. Efforts to revitalise the mining segment hold great potential, as the introduction of new legislation aimed at increasing value-added and reducing raw exports is expected to provide a major boost to the sector. This chapter contains an interview with Hilal bin Hamad Al Hasani, CEO, Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE).