Mumbai firm to develop SEZ near Omani port
Thursday, 22 May 2008, 18:02 IST
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Dubai: Mumbai based infrastructure development company SKIL has been signed to develop a special economic zone (SEZ) near the port of Sohar in Oman. An agreement to this effect was signed recently by the government of Oman, the Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands and SKIL, according to a press release issued by the Sohar Industrial Port Company (SIPC). The new SEZ will be situated adjacent to the port of Sohar, 240 km northwest of the Omani capital Muscat. According to the release, Oman's Minister for Commerce and Industry Maqbool bin Ali bin Sultan, Port of Rotterdam Chief Executive Hans Smits and other shareholders of SIPC were present at the signing ceremony. "This close proximity has considerable logistic advantages and also provides quality infrastructure services making the investments even more competitive," the release stated. The Oman government and the Port of Rotterdam had signed an agreement in 2007 to expand the Sohar port area from 2,000 hectares to 6,300 hectares to include the 4,300-hectare SEZ. SKIL (formerly Sea King Infrastructure Ltd) has been involved in infrastructure development work in India since the early 1990s. The new SEZ is also expected to create employment for people living in the Batinah region where Sohar is located and enhance foreign direct investment in the Port of Sohar area. It is also expected to shift the area's economic dependence to the non-energy sector. The SEZ of Sohar is expected to be launched in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Source: IANS
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