Omani companies could emulate their Dubai counterparts by bringing in container-loads of products from the Far East and selling them to the rest of the GCC, according to Taiwanese trade officials.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 2011 Taiwan Trade Mission to Oman on Saturday, Tom Tung-Chung Tseng, director, Taiwan Trade Centre in Dubai (TAITRA), said that the mass-production facilities of China and Taiwan are reluctant to deal in demand for small quantities of products, preferring to ship goods into Dubai and use the emirate as a regional distribution hub.
He said that if Oman were to stop buying in from Dubai and use its ports to bring in large quantities of Taiwanese products, the sultanate could sell to many markets such as Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
Taiwan exports US$1bn worth of products to the Middle East each year, but Jackson Lee, representative of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Oman, believes there is room for more in the sultanate if it can follow Dubai's example in attracting Far East business. "Here in Oman, there is only one Taiwanese company.
Most companies are stationed in Dubai. I would like to ask Oman to review its company laws to see if there is a different treatment for companies in Dubai."The conditions were outlined by Vickie Chen, sales manager for water treatment product manufacturer Kouw Pinnq Enterprises, who said that the emirate's free zones and reputation as a distribution hub makes it a better base for companies.
© Muscat Daily 2011
