Oman Future Fund announces first batch of investment projects worth over RO 830mn

OIA Announces First Investment Projects Worth RO 830 Million

Muscat: Oman Future Fund, owned by Oman Investment Authority, announced the first batch of its investment projects in partnership with local companies and international investors, with a total value exceeding RO 832 million, including foreign investments worth RO 609 million.

Meanwhile, the fund’s investment in the projects amounted to RO 220 million.

These projects are expected to generate more than 1,600 direct job opportunities. The projects covered 10 different vital sectors in the Sultanate of Oman. The major projects category included the technology, industry, tourism, new energy, and electric vehicles sectors, while the small and medium enterprises and startups category included the food, health, technology, financial technology, and e-commerce sectors.

Mulham Bashir Al Jarf, Deputy Chairman of Oman Investment Authority, said that the projects reflect the Authority’s efforts to achieve the strategic objectives of Oman Future Fund. He added that they focus on stimulating and developing the local economy, advancing the targeted economic sectors, and integrating with the private sector, in addition to attracting foreign investments and generating business opportunities for small and medium enterprises and start-ups.

He explained in a statement that these investment projects are the first for the Fund since the start of its operations on 17 January, 2024; as it witnessed a great turnout from local and foreign investors, and the number of applications submitted to the Fund exceeded 212 applications, stressing the Authority’s keenness to take sound measures that secure the Fund’s investment decisions.

The direct projects category includes three projects, namely the United Solar factory located in Sohar Free Zone, which is one of the largest factories in the world and the first of its kind in the Middle East in the polysilicon industry. It contributes to the development of downstream renewable energy industries, including the solar panel industry, with a production capacity of 100,000 tons per year.

The second project is the IDG Oman Investment Fund. It comes in partnership with the Chinese IDG Capital Fund, which has long experience in diversified investments. The fund will invest in the Sultanate of Oman in partnership with promising Chinese companies with a focus on information and communications technology, renewable energy, and electric vehicles. In addition to the EWTP Oman Fund, which comes in partnership with the Chinese EWTP Capital Fund. It targets investment in the Omani market in partnership with promising Chinese companies with a focus on information and communications technology, energy, tourism, and agriculture.

The mechanism for investing in direct local projects by Oman Future Fund takes the forms of partnership or lending according to several criteria, including that the ownership percentage of the Fund in the project does not exceed 40 percent, and the focus is on projects targeting growth, while the size of the Fund’s investment in these projects ranges between RO 5-100 million.

As for small and medium enterprises projects, the Fund’s investments in them is either through partnership or venture capital, so that the maximum investment limit in them is RO 5 million, without owning majority shares, and focusing on investing in the capital allocated to achieve growth and expansion for the project.  -ONA