MUSCAT: The statistics issued by the National Center for Statistics and Information indicated that the contribution of the industrial sector during the first nine months of 2021 amounted to OMR 2 billion, or 8.5 per cent of the total GDP.

While the total Omani exports during the first nine months of 2021 amounted to about OMR 12 billion and OMR 280 million, including OMR 7 billion and OMR 80 million for oil and gas exports, and 4 billion and OMR 180 million for non-oil exports, while the re-export sector contributed an amount of one billion and OMR 20 million.

Foreign direct investments in the industrial sector during 2021 amounted to one billion and OMR 480 million, compared to one billion and OMR 420 million in 2020.

According to the statistics, the number of Omanis working in the industrial sector reached 33,359, or 12.64 per cent of the total national workforce working in the private sector, which numbered 263,913.

The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion will also be celebrating Industry Day on Wednesday to commemorate the anniversary of the late Sultan Qaboos bin Said bin Taimur’s visit to Rusayl Industrial Estate on February 9, 1991.

His Excellency Qais bin Muhammad Al-Yousef, Minister of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion, will meet via videoconference with industrialists, project owners and investors to exchange views on promising investment opportunities in the industrial sector and find solutions to the challenges and difficulties facing the sector.