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Maqbool says FTA with US will help boost foreign trade, investments

MUSCAT — The Free Trade Agreement with the United States, which has come into force from the beginning of this year, represented a significant step in terms of development of Oman’s foreign trade and investments and enhancement of the role of the private sector, said Maqbool bin Ali Sultan, minister of commerce and industry, during a meeting with the businessmen and representatives of the private sector companies and establishments at the OCCI. He said the private sector had to benefit from the FTA through increased exports and from the mega capabilities of the US in economic and technological fields.

The FTA is based on a number of agreements between the two countries within their membership in the WTO, he said, adding that the Sultanate’s policy in terms of decrease of customs tariffs on imports and the availability of investment opportunities for foreign investors.

The minister pointed out that the Sultanate was the fourth Arab country to enter into such an accord with the US following Jordan, Bahrain and Morocco.

The FTA with the US establishes a solid base for economic cooperation based on liberalisation of investment procedures and elimination of restrictions on services trade and protection of intellectual property rights.

The agreement has covered 22 chapters on the initial rules and definitions, markets of agricultural and industrial products, textile and garments, cooperation in the fields of customs, technical trade constraints, precautionary measures, government purchases, investments, services, financial services, communications and e-trade services and intellectual property rights, environment, transparency and settlement of disputes among other issues.

The agreement would lead to the flow of Omani exports to the US and encourage the Omani companies, the US and other companies to invest in the Sultanate for the purpose of production and export to the US markets in the wake of customs tariff exemptions, he said.