ARABIAN TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Oman is proactively fostering an environment of foreign direct investment, driven by the incentives outlined in its Foreign Capital Investment Law. The Sultanate’s approach combines openness to global capital with firm protection of its cultural heritage and local economic framework. Investors from abroad are welcomed with benefits such as national treatment, potential tax incentives, land-use advantages, and protection against arbitrary expropriation. The streamlined services at the Investment Services Centre ensure that foreign investors can secure approvals efficiently and repatriate their profits freely.
However, this progressive investment landscape comes with thoughtful boundaries. In a conversation with Times of Oman, a representative from the respected Mohammed Ibrahim Law Firm shed light on the sectors that remain off-limits to foreign investors. These reserved sectors are designed to protect Omani culture and ensure the survival of traditional skills and small-scale local businesses.
Key areas barred to foreign ownership include the production and retail of traditional Omani products such as halwa, kummah, khanjars, abayas, frankincense, and incense, along with items crafted from materials like leather, copper, pottery, and silver. Additionally, activities like tailoring traditional clothing, document photocopying, and hairdressing outside tourist zones are also exclusive to Omanis.
Dr. Mohammed Ibrahim Al Zadjali, Founding Partner of the firm, emphasized that several everyday retail and service activities are similarly protected. These include grocery sales, fresh produce stalls, meat and fish shops, scrap material trading, telecommunication card sales, and vehicle maintenance services. The legal team further highlighted restrictions in sensitive sectors like labour recruitment, real estate agency work, customs handling, and water transport, as well as fishing, poultry rearing, and beekeeping.
Recent regulatory changes have also added mobile cafés, PO box services, skincare businesses, plant nurseries, and aquaculture to the list of restricted areas. Importantly, foreign businesses already operating in these restricted sectors before the new laws took effect are allowed to continue but may not transfer ownership to another foreign party without ministerial consent.
Through this dual approach of welcoming foreign capital while safeguarding national identity and livelihoods, Oman maintains a balance between globalization and heritage. Mohammed Ibrahim Law Firm, with offices in Muscat and Sohar and nearly two decades of experience, plays a crucial role in advising clients navigating Oman’s legal landscape. They specialize in areas ranging from foreign investment and corporate law to arbitration, banking, and maritime law.
