MUSCAT: Khazaen Economic City is the latest integrated economic city to be developed in the Wilayat of Barka in the South Al Batinah Governorate.

It is characterised by its strategic location, which is in the middle of the highest population density in the Sultanate of Oman in terms of population and the fastest growing, and within the scope of Muscat, according to the urban strategy.

Engineer Salim Al Thuhli, CEO of Khazaen Economic City, confirmed to Oman News Agency that the city is of great importance and is an important economic tributary and a lot to be relied upon after the completion of all its stages in contributing to the enhancement of the domestic product and the diversification of sources of income, and it is the first partnership between the public and private sectors in the field Economic cities and free zones.

Al Thuhli said that he expects the city to register growth in investment projects this year, the most important of which are currently developing, which is the workers city and the truck rest. He added, “Khazaen is linked to a solid logistical structure of ports, airports and main highways. It is about 30 minutes from Muscat International Airport, 35 minutes from Suwaiq Port, two hours from Sohar Port, and linked to direct main roads and land border outlets with the sisterly United Arab Emirates as well as the border port. with the sister Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”

He stated that the city aims to attract and attract foreign investments and increase internal spending in goods and services. The city will provide investment opportunities for small and medium enterprises and jobs for Omani youth, and will contribute in general to diversifying sources of income and increasing GDP.

And Khazaen began to attract local and international investors. During the end of 2021, the city signed about 63 investment contracts with an investment value of 60 million Omani riyals, the most important of which was the Khazaen land port contract and the Khazaen Central Market for vegetables and fruits, and Khazaen was able to attract the largest logistic companies in the Kingdom.

Saudi Arabia, Naqel Express, as well as the Gulf Paper Products Company, signed contracts with Al Hilal Group for Plastic Industries and Salalah Mills Company to establish a food center in Khazaen Economic City. In 2021, a flood protection dam with a length of 6.7 km was implemented.

Al Thuhli explained that during the year 2021, the Woqod factory began to operate, and it is a factory that specialises in collecting used cooking oils from hotels, restaurants and other entities, and recycling them to produce biodiesel that is used as fuel for trucks and buses.

Al Thuhli stated that each labor city inside the square accommodates about 8,000 workers, which provides the investor with housing or transportation for workers, and these cities will be offered for investment so that they are developed by investors according to specifications. Al Thuhli talked about the central vegetable and fruit market, where an agreement was signed with the Muscat Municipality in May 2021 to transfer wholesale activities and central refrigerators from the central vegetable and fruit market in Mawaleh to Khazaen Economic City.

It is expected the new venue would be a major component of the food city that achieves the objectives of the national strategy for food security. In light of which a company was established to manage and develop the new market and the partners’ agreement and the financial financing agreement for the project with a capital of OMR 40 million were signed. The bidding offers submitted by contractors are now being evaluated in preparation for their award, and construction work is expected to start at the end of April of this year.

Engineer Al Thuhli pointed out that Khazaen Port is an addition to the logistic sector in the Sultanate of Oman and is relied upon to raise the efficiency of the logistic sector in the Sultanate of Oman . And areas for handling containers and parking for trucks and has an administrative building and containers can be unloaded, refilled and exported.

He stated that the volume of handling at Khazaen Land Port amounts to 250,000 containers per year, equivalent to 3 million tons of cargo annually. It was built on a land area of 100,000 square meters, and there is an additional land allocated for future expansion.

On the support of Khazaen Economic Zone for small and medium enterprises, Eng. Salem Al Thuhli stressed that these enterprises were taken into account during the preparation phase of the urban plan of the city, by providing lands with areas commensurate with the nature and capabilities of these enterprises, as we provided lands with an area of 2500 square meters and 5000 square meters for private investment projects.

For these institutions, there are also prefabricated buildings and stores that have been divided into small areas starting from 300 square meters for these institutions, and there are designated places and many other features and facilities for small and medium enterprises.