Oman-US FTA boosts economic ties

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MUSCAT -- The Foreign Trade Agreement (FTA) inked by the Sultanate of Oman and the United States a year ago has been highly instrumental in bolstering the bilateral ties between the two, according to a top notch US official. "We have always been sharing a strong relationship with the Sultanate for a long time and since 2009, the FTA has been playing a key role in this regard. This can be perceived if we look at the bilateral relations before and after the FTA," Christopher S Wilson, US Trade Representative for Europe and Middle East, told the Observer yesterday.

"We have now reached a new phase in the implementation of the agreement and now, we need to raise awareness about the benefits of investing in both countries among the trade and business avenues", h said. Christopher was speaking on the sidelines of a meeting with the representatives of Omani private sector organised by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to discuss the development of trade and economic relations between the two nations.

Nevertheless, he didn't rule out the challenges that may possibly ensue in the implementation though he admitted they never faced any difficulty or problems so far. "We may have to face challenges such as lack of knowledge sharing and limited experience and these are the areas where we may have to seriously look in to".

He, earlier yesterday, held a meeting with Maqbool bin Ali Sultan, Minister of Commerce and Industry in connection with the implementation and review of the prospects of the same.  He feels that creating awareness is of high importance and the participation of so many factors like the private sector other than the government is necessary for the same. "It (implementation of the agreement) needs the participation of so many players otherthan the government such as the private sector in order to increase investments in both countries.

For the success of this free trade pact, the support and co-operation of business people is crucial from both countries And that is the next challenge that we have to face for improving the trade relations between the two using FTA as a tool". "We know that the government of Oman is taking some concrete steps and is bringing about some ways to promote the same.

Besides, we will be organising a series of visits for the Omani investors to the United States and an American business delegation will be visiting Oman later this year", the US representative said. Regarding the US government's stand on the current FTA, Wilson said, "I assure that the US government is committed to the FTA and we'll be sharing technical assistance and capacity support with the Sultanate in connection with the ongoing implementation of the same."

Christopher was optimistic about the future of the FTA and said "It can definitely give bilateral trade relations further boost and the transactions graph will, in due course, go up". He will be taking part in a round table conference organised by the Tawasul Global Connections Center in co-operation with the US Embassy at the Intercontinental Hotel at 2:00 pm tomorrow.

By Kabeer Yousuf

© Oman Daily Observer 2010