The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion in the Sultanate of Oman has confirmed that at the beginning of next April, it will be mandatory to employ an Omani employee in the foreign investor’s commercial registry, one year after the start of the commercial activity, and that the appointed employee must be registered with the General Authority for Social Insurance. With a commitment to implementing the Omanization policy followed by the Ministry of Labour.
This comes in implementation of the Council of Ministers’ decision to reduce commercial registration fees for foreign investors and treat them as an Omani investor, with the obligation to employ a minimum of one Omani employee.
Engineer Ammar bin Sulaiman Al Kharousi, Director General of the Investment Services Center at the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion in Oman, pointed out that the Ministry had announced on June 18, 2023, through its electronic platforms, the start of reducing fees for foreign investment companies, and obliging them to employ an Omani employee. In addition to placing a warning upon obtaining the commercial register clarifying the condition for employing the Omani citizen, one year after the establishment of the commercial register for the foreign investor.
He explained that the Ministry is making continuous efforts to enhance the attractiveness of the investment environment in the Sultanate of Oman, by removing challenges facing investors, whether local or foreign, and we hope that commercial companies for foreign investors will contribute to enhancing local added value by creating job opportunities for Omani citizens who represent the backbone of development. The facilities and incentives provided by government agencies to investors must contribute to effectively improving the labor market.
On April 1, 2024, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion will begin placing an administrative obligation prohibiting transactions through the Oman Business Platform on all commercial records of foreign investors that have completed a year since their establishment and have not adhered to the appointment, giving a period of 30 renewable days.
To extend the same period for companies to rectify their situations, and if this employee is let go, the obligation will be placed on the company in an electronic way, making it easier for the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment Promotion and the Ministry of Labor to follow up on companies that are not committed to Omanization.
It is noteworthy that the investment sector in the Sultanate of Oman witnessed, during the last stage, many facilities and simplification of procedures for investors, by allowing the foreign investor to invest and own 100 percent, and to invest in more than 1,700 commercial and industrial activities in the Sultanate of Oman, through the Oman Business Platform, and reducing, canceling and merging 836 government services.