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Industrial sector grows despite global downturn

MUSCAT — The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has prepared several programmes and studies aimed at improving the performance of the industrial sector, including rehabilitation programmes for industrial facilities, programmes of rationalisation of energy consumption as well as a programme for handling industrial partnership and industrial management.

This was disclosed by Maqbool bin Ali Sultan, minister of commerce and industry, here yesterday. He was addressing a meeting of leading businessmen and industrialists on the occasion of Industrial Day 2009, which marks the anniversary of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said’s Rusayl Industrial Estate visit.

The preliminary figures for 2008 indicate a growth of the industrial sector and a steady increase in the number of industrial projects, he said.

The government is keen on tackling the major obstacles being faced by the industrial sector, through the development of infrastructure and port facilities, increasing storage capacity, simplification of procedures, opening up new markets for exports, continuing the promotion of Omani products and adoption of a new marketing brand project, he added.

The industrial sector achieved remarkable success in attracting foreign investments and adopting modern technology, particularly in the private sector, he said.

The minister pointed out that while it was normal for the Sultanate to be affected by the implications of the global financial meltdown, like the rest of the world, the fiscal and monetary policies adopted by the nation has played an ancillary role in alleviating the severity of the crisis.

Maqbool affirmed that the government took several measures to enable the various sectors to overcome the crisis. The Central Bank of Oman (CBO) has worked on helping the banks to provide liquidity and to provide the necessary facilities. The Ministry of National Economy also announced that it would continue with its development projects.

The minister announced that the next Industry Day celebration would be held in Salalah as an embodiment of the importance attached by the government to a balanced industrial growth and dissemination of the benefits to all the governorates and regions of the Sultanate.