Oman is preparing to launch two new investment platforms to further deepen cross-border investments, one of them being a Central Asia-focussed fund with significant Chinese involvement, a senior official from the country’s sovereign wealth fund said on Thursday.

Speaking at the 10th Belt and Road Summit in Hong Kong, Ibrahim Al-Eisri, Chief Investment Officer – Private Markets at the Oman Investment Authority (OIA), said the SWF has previously partnered with Chinese firms to establish three investment funds based in Oman, with a combined value of nearly $700 million.

“We will be announcing a bigger platform from one of the government sovereign wealth funds soon,” Al-Eisri said. “We are also launching a Central Asia fund where one of the big players from China will be an LP [Limited Partner]. The idea is to link China, Oman and Central Asia.”

He didn’t elaborate or disclose financial details of the two funds but said the Central Asia fund will build on OIA’s 15-year investment presence in the region.

The $200 million Uzbek-Oman Investment Company (UOIC), established in 2010 by OIA in partnership with Uzbek Reconstruction and Development Fund, invests in financial services, industry, logistics, infrastructure, retail, real estate, and public markets in the Central Asian country.

Chinese investors are increasingly looking to leverage Oman’s strategic location, low energy costs, and port infrastructure, Al-Eisri said, adding that OIA is also investing alongside these firms as an equity partner.

In 2024, Future Fund Oman (FFO), an OIA-managed vehicle, launched two private equity funds with Chinese partners:

  • The $200 million IDG Oman Sustainable Fund, in partnership with IDG Capital, targets advanced manufacturing and cleantech sectors in Oman.
  • The $250 million eWTP Oman Sustainable Fund, jointly established with eWTP Arabia Capital, focuses on ICT, renewable energy, tourism, and agriculture projects in Oman, with a core objective of attracting foreign direct investment from Chinese industrial leaders.

In June 2025, FFO partnered with Hong Kong-based Templewater to launch the Templewater Oman Localisation Fund, a $200 million vehicle focused on clean molecules, energy storage, e-fuels, smart mobility, renewables, and green data centres.

“There’s a lot of opportunity happening between the two countries,” Al-Eisri said. “Last year alone, OIA invested over $2 billion back into Greater China across sectors including healthcare, biotech, and technology.”

In 2021, OIA had established a growth fund focussed on future technologies with China Merchant Bank International (CMBI), one of the objectives being to deploy some of these innovations in Oman.

(Reporting by Anoop Menon; Editing by SA Kader)

(anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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