Oman’s Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (Madayn) has announced that its board has approved new projects for Sur Industrial City.

These projects include the setting up of a township for an integrated workforce by the private sector in a bid to enhance the offered services and to boost the business environment in Sur Industrial City.

The board also approved the launch of a shipyard project that will also house a factory for modern fishing vessels, along with a ship maintenance facility and repair centre, among other related services, a statement from Madayn said.

These announcements came during the fourth meeting of the year, chaired by Dr Saleh bin Said Masan, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion for Commerce and Industry, and Chairman of Madayn’s Board of Directors.

Furthermore, the announcement said that the new projects will be able to avail of special incentives that announced earlier this year, including a two-year exemption from rental rates followed by a reduction in the rental value for a period of three years by 50% for contracts concluded during the period from 2021 to 2024.

In addition to this, Madayn will also cut all other fees listed in Annex of the Investment Regulations by 50% during the same period.

All these efforts from Madayn will help play a key role in creating an attractive environment for promising projects in the sultanate’s fisheries sector, the statement said.

It added that the total volume of investments in Sur Industrial City has reached $3.88 billion by the end of 2020.

The announced incentives come within the efforts made by Madayn to mitigate the economic consequences resulting from Covid-19 pandemic and the global drop of oil prices.

The incentives also support Madayn’s vision to enhance Oman’s position as a leading regional centre of manufacturing, ICT, innovation, and entrepreneurship excellence, it concluded.