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India and Oman have been friendly neighbours sharing a vibrant legacy of trade, partnership, kinship and friendship spanning thousands of years and the cultural cross fertilization that took place through people-to-people contacts has been mutually enriching. These traditionally close and friendly ties have been consistently developed in all fields and today stand on firm foundations with splendid prospects of the cooperation attaining its full potential.
Our economic and commercial relations are on the path of rapid ascendancy. In 2008, our non-oil bilateral trade figures stood at US$1.67 billion. Over 130 Indian companies have a foothold in Oman in different sectors such as construction, manufacturing, trading, telecommunications, oil and gas, fertilizer, education, banking and finance, insurance etc. Similarly, over thirty Omani companies are present in India in such sectors as oil and gas, IT, banking and finance, pharmaceuticals, manufacturing etc. Bilateral investment relation between India and Oman is also quite strong and is increasing steadily.
Joint Investment Fund
Several high-level visits that have taken place in recent past, including the visit of His Highness Sayyid Fahd Bin Mahmoud AI Said to India in December 2007 and the visit of Hon’ble Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh to Oman in November 2008 have provided further impetus to these relations. One significant development was the decision to establish an India-Oman Joint Investment Fund with an initial seed capital of US$100 million and an authorized capital of US$1.5 billion. A lot of progress has been achieved during several rounds of technical level talks between State Bank of India and the State General reserve Fund and we expect that the detailed Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) will be signed in the very near future.
Another key outcome of the Indian Prime Minister’s visit was that a high-level India-Oman Working Group was established under the co-chairmanship of His Excellency Dr Mohammed AI Zubair Bin Ali, Advisor to His Majesty Sultan QaboosBin Said AI Said on Economic Planning Affairs and Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission of India. Mandated with laying down a road map for deeper and stronger economic engagement between the two countries, the India-Oman Working Group has met twice and identified a number of sectors for future cooperation, which include food security, healthcare, tourism, educatt6n and training among others.
Significant collaboration exists between Indian and Omani institutions of higher learning. Sultan Qaboos University has research collaborations with a number of universities! colleges! institutes in India, such as CMC, Vellore, National Institute of Oceanography, Goa etc. Institute of Chartered Accounts of India (ICAI), New Delhi and College of Banking and Financial Studies (CBFS), Muscat have signed an MOU for introducing accountancy courses in Oman.
The Omzest Group has commenced the process of setting up an Institute of Cost and Management Accountants in Oman, in association with The Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI), Hyderabad. This institute will work towards promoting and propagating the profession of cost and management accountancy in Oman. Khimji Training Institute has also signed an MOU with Manipal University for setting up a higher education centre for various disciplines. Most recently, it has signed an MOU with a premier management institute from India, i.e. Pune-based Symbiosis for offering management courses in Oman. India and Oman have set up a Joint Working Group on Higher Education under the MOU on Cooperation in Higher Education that was signed during the visit of His Highness Sayyid Fahd Bin Mahmoud AI Said, Omani Deputy Prime Minister for the Council of Ministers in December 2007. The first meeting of the JWG took place in Muscat in the last week of March 2009 that has identified a number of areas for future cooperation. All these initiatives would further bolster the already strong India-Oman relations, especially in the field of cooperation in higher education.
Exchange of Journalists
With a view to enhance dissemination of information, we have instituted a journalists’ exchange programme, under which there would be regular exchange visits of Indian and Omani journalists. We expect the finalization of an MOU on Cultural Cooperation to happen in the near future which will further enhance exchange of students, academicians and cultural troupes between the two countries.
The future holds a lot of promise for further deepening of ties between India and Oman. Indian economy has been witnessing a phenomenal growth since the last decade. The country is still holding its ground in the midst of the current global financial crisis. In fact, when most economies are registering negative growth, the Indian economy is estimated to have grown at close to 6.7 percent in 2008-09. About 7,500 international business people from over 24 nations polled in a Business Confidence Survey by Servcorp International in April 2009 ranked India as the third most attractive business destination even in these turbulent times.
The Indian Bourse (stock market) is performing well and the key market indices are on an upward curve reflecting positive market sentiments. Similarly, propped by prudent and conservative government policies, the Omani economy has not shown any symptom of slowing down. Global oil prices have started recovering after a big slump and with current oil prices at over US$ 65 a barrel, Oman is all set to march with its massive developmental plans with more comfort and confidence.
There are a number of areas where Oman and India can work together for mutual economic benefits. The domains with large prospects of cooperation include oil & gas, infrastructure, IT, Education & Training, Healthcare, Tourism and Hospitality, New & Renewable Energy etc.
In keeping with its strategy of opening up oil & gas exploration sector to international firms, the Omani Government has in 2009 alone awarded four blocks to MNCs. The Ministry of Oil & Gas has announced that it intends to award some more blocks in the near future. Though Indian companies at present have three concessions in Oman, we will be glad to see some more concessions being taken up for exploration by Indian companies either individually or as consortia. India has been sourcing some LNG from Oman through spot purchases. Rapid industrial growth in India is creating burgeoning demands for LNG and we will be keen to see more LNG exports from Oman to India.
In the field of IT, Knowledge Oasis Muscat is planning its fourth phase expansion which provides very good opportunities for IT companies to set base in Oman that can service the Middle East and North Africa region. We have a big challenge in hand to convince Indian IT and IT-enabled services companies to seriously look at these opportunities.
Healthcare is another such sector that holds significant promise. Considering the advantages that such complementarities can offer, we are examining the possibility of joint development of a super-specialty hospital in India with a rehabilitation center in Oman that can complement each other. This will boost medical tourism in both countries.
India and Oman can both immensely benefit from investment avenues created by Omani Government to develop the country’s tourism infrastructure on a war footing. Indian hotel groups and hotel management training institutes will look at these avenues with seriousness.
The establishment of The Research Council and a special research fund by the Sultan Qaboos University has given a strong fillip to R&D in the Sultanate. India is fast emerging as a global R&D hub in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors etc. There are lots of synergies that can be harnessed in this area.
Infrastructure
Driven by the necessity of upgrading its infrastructure to sustain its economic growth at the current level and to accelerate it further, the Indian Government is undertaking regulatory reforms with alacrity and encouraging Public Private Partnerships and FDI in core infrastructure sectors. Several Omani companies have developed competencies in construction and infrastructure and can benefit from participation in the business opportunities provided by India. Similarly, Indian giants like L& T, GMR have been involved both domestically in development of state-of-the-art airports and can play active roles in airport ground infrastructure development in the Sultanate.
Another area where India has a lot of strength is new and renewable energy. Many Indian companies like Tata BP Solar, Acme Group, Moser Baer Photovoltaic are leading players in solar power sector in India. Similarly, in wind energy sector, Suzlon and Sri Ganesh Windpower Engineers Private Ltd have already shown interest in participating in wind power projects in Oman.
The Omani Government has announced plans to set up a coal based power plant and according to reports published in the press, the Omani authorities have decided on super critical and subcritical coal-based thermal power plant technologies. NTPC Ltd, a public sector enterprise which is also the largest power producer in India, has developed expertise in these technologies and pioneers industrial usage of fly ash, a byproduct of the coal-based power stations that can substantially reduce pollution worries by using it for bricks and cement manufacturing.
To sum up, there are abundant opportunities for future cooperation between India and Oman in a number of sectors. Both Indian and Omani companies need to seize these opportunities. |
