MUSCAT: Oman and Saudi Arabia will start a new phase of economic, trade and investment partnership in the coming days that will have support of the two political leaderships and their keenness to strengthen bilateral cooperation relations for the interests of the two brotherly countries and its people, Oman News Agency reported on Tuesday.

This partnership stems from the ambitions of the “Oman 2040” and “Kingdom 2030” visions, and the huge investment opportunities.

Over the past few days, government and private sector officials from the two countries have begun to develop a vision that will enable the two parties to identify areas of joint economic and investment cooperation, enhance trade exchange, increase investment opportunities, and focus on non-oil, logistical and tourism activities.

The two sides stressed that expediting the opening of the direct road link between the two countries will reduce the cost of shipping imports and exports and reduce the cost of transportation, and facilitate communication between individuals, traders and investors.

“It is worth noting that Saudi Arabia is one of the most important trading partners of the Sultanate, and is ranked second in the list of the most important importing countries for Omani non-oil exports, and ranked fourth in terms of re-exports, and came in fifth place in the list of countries from which the Sultanate imports,” the statement from ONA said.

The Kingdom is a strategic partner in a number of economic projects in the Sultanate, including the development of Khazaen Economic City, and in the energy sector through the independent power station “Salalah 2”.