SALALAH -- The Salalah Free Zone (SFZ) has attracted two major investments in vehicle assembly and manufacturing of chocolates and cocoa derivatives. The vehicle assembly plant is to be set up as a joint venture between Omani and Qatari partnership, while the chocolate plant would be an investment by a company in the Ivory Coast.
Ali Mohammad Tabouk, Deputy Chief Executive Officer, Salalah Free Zone, termed these investments as good progress besides many other successful and operational ventures going on in the Free Zone. "Our efforts of developing a good communication network with investment partners are bearing fruits now and this has resulted in gaining initial approvals from the investors for choosing Salalah Free Zone as the best location to set up the transport and passenger buses assembly plant and chocolate and cocoa derivatives manufacturing plant by the Ivory Coast company," he said.
He said work was in progress to form a working team of the SFZ to coordinate with the investors in order to fulfill their investment and facilities requirements necessary for the respective plants. "The details of these investments will be declared soon after the completion of initial stages," he said. Commenting on the importance of the projects, Ali Tabouk said: "The importance of the vehicle assembly (transport and passenger buses) plant is based on the fact that public transport and transport services as logistics carrier are poised to grow and such plants would accelerate the Sultanate's growth and development."
"Moreover, the project will help in developing the downstream and upstream sectors related to the project and prove to be integral to the Indian company involved in producing automotive brake parts in the Salalah Free Zone. Consequently, this will form a hub for developing opportunities for the establishment of industries related to the assembly of automotives in the Sultanate," he said. Ali Tabouk said both the projects were important for the SFZ in achieving the development goals of the Sultanate as also in attracting new investments. In his comments, Charles Kader, Chief Executive Officer of the company willing to invest in the chocolate
Salalah Free Zone attracts two major investments and cocoa derivatives factory said: "Our choice of Salalah Free Zone to set up chocolate and cocoa derivatives factory is due to the Sultanate's location and its closeness to the growing markets. Furthermore, the unique facilities and utilities of the Salalah Free Zone attracted us to set up a plant in Salalah".
"Our project will assist in putting the Sultanate with the producing countries of cocoa derivatives. It will definitely attract investment opportunities in the fields of chocolate and sweet industry. Our project will also assist in creating new employment opportunities for the locals and opportunities for industries related to sweet in the Sultanate through the availability of the necessary raw materials for manufacturing chocolate and cocoa derivatives," said Kader. Ali Tabouk also laid stress on the availability of international standards infrastructure at the SFZ. "The commercial and technical work plan of the Salalah Free Zone had been developed by global expertise. The execution of commercial business plan is currently proceeding by working with the concerning bodies of investment in the Sultanate in addition to reaching the target investments in the global markets," he said.
Salalah Free Zone, according to him, is one of the national projects through which the government seeks to enhance the national economy, attract foreign investments to create employment opportunities for the locals, and develop business opportunities in the Sultanate. The zone is a good access to the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Arabian and global markets through its strategic location dominating the Indian Ocean, which is considered as a mid-point for global trade routes. This has formed as a factor for a lot of local and foreign investments.
© Oman Daily Observer 2013
