Saturday 13 / December / 2025
Vienna: The Sultanate of Oman has received widespread international praise after making rapid progress in localising high-quality industries with advanced technologies and developing its production capabilities, according to the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) report for 2026.
The report classified the Sultanate of Oman among the emerging countries globally in the industrial sector.
The report confirmed that the Sultanate of Oman has made a remarkable leap in building industrial value chains related to advanced technology industries, despite its recent entry into this field, as it has been able to establish a promising industrial base in photovoltaic cell-related industries, benefiting from attracting quality investments, implementing stimulating government procurement policies, and providing an attractive business environment for modern technologies.
The report highlighted a number of industrial projects under development, most notably the United Solar Polysilicon project in the Sohar Free Zone, which is among the most important industrial projects in the region, aiming to produce 100,000 tonnes annually of polysilicon to meet the growing regional demand for solar energy solutions and enhance the Sultanate of Oman’s position in global supply chains.
The report also highlighted the assets that the Sultanate of Oman possesses, such as the availability of high-quality silica sand raw materials, the strength of the sunshine and the movement of winds throughout the year, in addition to the strategic geographical location on one of the most important international sea routes.
The government also provides a range of investment incentives, most notably tax exemptions and 100 percent foreign ownership, which makes the Sultanate of Oman a competitive environment for localizing advanced industries.
Sheida Industries launched construction work on its first solar panel factory on an area of 11,250 square metres, in addition to signig an agreement with the Chinese company JA Solar to establish a factory with a capacity of 6 gigawatts for cells and 3 gigawatts for panels, with an investment of US$564 million, mainly directed towards the Gulf and African markets.
It also announced the " Turbine Resources Company" project in Duqm, which aims to manufacture wind turbines with investments estimated at US$181.8 million. In the field of green hydrogen technology manufacturing, the Sultanate of Oman is preparing to establish an electrolyzer assembly plant in cooperation with the Chinese company " Sungrow Power", which enhances its position on the map of high-tech manufacturing in Arab countries.
Eng. Khalid bin Salim Al Qasabi, Director General of Industry at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, pointed out that this progress came as a result of adopting stimulating industrial policies and systematic initiatives aimed at attracting quality industries with advanced technologies.
He explained that the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion worked to facilitate procedures for investors, raise the readiness of free and economic zones to attract advanced industries, and empower the industrial sector through a wide package of incentives, which included developing a flexible regulatory framework, providing tax incentives and customs exemptions, and simplifying licensing procedures, in addition to directing investments towards economic zones with integrated infrastructure capable of including advanced industrial projects, which contributes to enhancing local added value and linking global investors to promising industrial opportunities.
For his part, Engineer Jassim bin Saif al Jadidi,, Technical Director of the Office of the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, explained that industrial projects specializing in the manufacture of solar cell and panel technologies and equipment have begun to take shape within integrated industrial complexes, especially in the Sohar Free Zone, where polysilicon factories are located next to solar cell and panel factories, in addition to supporting projects that complete the value chain and establish an integrated regional manufacturing system.
He pointed out that the pace of global investment flows in this sector is accelerating, and that international companies now see the Sultanate of Oman as an ideal center for establishing their industries, benefiting from direct government support, incentives granted to investors, and the provision of highly ready industrial sites.
He added that the ministry is working in parallel to launch and implement initiatives aimed at developing local suppliers, to enable them to be a key part of supply chains, thereby enhancing local content and contributing to the development of national products capable of competing in regional and international markets.
Engineer Jassim bin Saif al Jadidi affirmed that the successive industrial achievements in the Sultanate of Oman are reshaping the landscape of advanced manufacturing and consolidating the country’s position as one of the promising regional centers, in a fundamental transformation that aligns with the directions and objectives of the Industrial Strategy 2040 and Oman Vision 204
