Muscat: Khazaen Economic City has officially commenced pilot operations for the Central Market for Fruits and Vegetables, one of the largest national projects aimed at enhancing Oman’s food security sector. Located in the Wilayat of Barka in the South Al Batinah Governorate, this state-of-the-art market serves as the nation’s first dedicated food city.

The market is set to become a crucial platform for the marketing, exporting, importing, and re-exporting of fruits and vegetables on both a national and international scale. It will also act as a vital marketing outlet for local agricultural products, providing significant support to agricultural-producing companies and local farmers.

Key benefits of the project include the strengthening of cold and supply chains, reduction of agricultural product losses, assurance of product quality and safety, and improvements in post-harvest handling. The market also promises to create business opportunities for small and medium enterprises and generate jobs for the local workforce.

Engineer Salem bin Sulaiman Al Dhahli, CEO of Khazaen Economic City, emphasized the project’s importance in enhancing Oman’s position in the vegetable and fruit marketing and production sector.

The market includes several integrated facilities aimed at revolutionizing the food logistics sector, such as central refrigeration, a wholesale market, dry warehouses, sorting workshops, a customs inspection platform, agricultural quarantine, a food safety laboratory, and designated areas for selling local products.