The Oman Future Fund, owned by the Oman Investment Authority (OIA), has announced the first batch of its investment projects, to be conducted in partnership with local companies and international investors.
The total value of the announced projects exceeds OMR832 million ($2.2 billion). Of this figure, foreign investments amount to OMR609 million ($1.58 billion), while the fund will invest OMR220 million ($571.43 million).
The projects are expected to generate more than 1,600 direct job opportunities.
The fund will support initiatives across 10 critical sectors of the country’s economy, including technology, industry, tourism, new energy and electric vehicles. Additionally, the SME and start-up categories cover sectors such as food, health, technology, fintech and e-commerce.
Over 210 applications were received by the fund, with the successful initiatives including the United Solar factory located in Sohar Free Zone, the first of its kind in the Middle East in the polysilicon industry; the IDG Oman Investment Fund and the EWTP Oman Fund. The later two are focused on investing in the Sultanate of Oman in partnership with promising Chinese companiesÂ
In the SME and startup sectors, successful projects include IO Kitchen, a cloud kitchen featuring over 30 virtual brands; Oma’s first online insurance broker Bima, and OPay, the first licensed Omani company to offer “Buy Now, Pay Later” services.
Mulham Bashir Al Jarf, Deputy Chairman of Oman Investment Authority, said that the projects 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.
These investment projects are the first to be announced by the Future Fund since the start of its operations on January 17, 2024. The fund stressed that its stake in any project is capped at 40% and investments range from OMR 5 million to OMR 100 million ($13 million to $260 million). The focus of the fund is on projects targeting growth.
