The Public Establishment for Industrial Estates – Madayn has delivered an overall optimal performance with the end of the five-year plans (2011-2015) and (2016-2020) marking notable growth rates. During these 10 years, Madayn has achieved a growth rate of 309% in the number of projects, 208% in the volume of investments, and 274% in the number of workforce, informs Hilal bin Hamad Al Hasani, CEO of Madayn.
“During the period 2006-2019, Madayn has achieved an increase in the total income by 871% and the net profit doubled more than 10 times touching over 1055%. Moreover, during the period 2016-2020, Madayn has managed to elevate the percentage of capital expenditure financing to 68% by 2019, while the initial indicators of 2021 results show that Madayn is approaching 80% in this regard,” Al Hasani pointed out, stressing that Madayn is financing its operating expenses by 100% since 2006.
Al Hasani highlighted that the Sultanate’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2019 amounted to OMR 29,349,500,000 according to the monthly statistical bulletin released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI). “The gross output of the companies investing in Madayn in 2019 amounted to OMR 2,805,884,474.15, and the value added of the producing companies in Madayn stood at OMR 1,075,382,932.55,” Al Hasani stated.
Madayn Investment Complexes
Al Hasani announced the launch of ‘Madayn Investment Complexes’ project, which will present an ideal opportunity for local and foreign companies to invest in the industrial sector and associated complementary sectors. “These companies shall develop specialised investment complexes through real estate plans, and the designs shall get approved by Madayn. The developing companies will then promote the industrial and investment units with the facilities for the local and foreign companies to buy or rent these units for immediate operation, following the installation of production lines of the tenant or owner,” Al Hasani said.
Development opportunities will be announced for 10 investment complexes in Suhar, Al Buraimi, Samail, and Sur industrial cities in a variety of sectors. The activities of the investment complexes will represent a variety of sectors including multi industries, food, plastic, and logistics industries. “These investment complexes shall support the industrial integration between small and large factories, and contribute to encouraging local and foreign investments towards the complementary industries. This project shall also offer an opportunity for the SMEs to enter the industrial sector through these investment complexes. The SMEs will be able to buy or lease real estate units with small areas that are compatible with their operational and production capacity,” Al Hasani stated.
COVID-19 Impact
With the objective of attracting more investments to the industrial cities as well as mitigating the economic impact of COVID-19 and the global drop of oil prices, the CEO of Madayn emphasised that Madayn has ensured to translate its responsibility towards investors and industrialists by announcing a lineup of incentives to support the investment environment in the industrial cities. Incentives were announced for Al Buraimi, Ibri, Al Mudhaibi and Thumrait industrial cities, and any industrial city to be announced later, which include exemption from rental value for a period of two years for all new projects, followed by a reduction in the rental value for a period of three years by 50 per cent for contracts concluded during the period from 2021 to 2024, in addition to reducing all other fees listed in Annex no. (1) of the Investment Regulations by 50 per cent for all new projects during the period from 2021 to 2024. The incentives also include reducing fees for IT activity license by 50 per cent for a period of two years during the period from January 1, 2021 to December 31, 2022 for the existing and new projects in the Knowledge Oasis Muscat; in addition to not imposing fines for the delay in payments for the years 2020 and 2021.
New Industrial Cities
Commenting on the executive position of the new industrial cities that were announced earlier by Madayn, Al Hasani elaborated that the project of establishing Thumrait Industrial City has entered the final stage of designing the infrastructure, identifying available investment opportunities for the private sector, and updating the economic analysis. An environmental study was also conducted by a specialised environmental consultant and the environmental approval has been obtained from the relevant body.
Located about 9 km away from Thumrait Air Base towards Marmul, the 4-million sqm area of Thumrait Industrial City will focus on mining industries such as gypsum and limestone industries, in addition to light industries related to building materials like cement products. Thumrait Industrial City will also be home to several support services such as vehicle maintenance workshops, cold and dry storage facilities, a fuel station and truck weigh station. Space has also been allocated for commercial projects such as car showrooms, cafes, rest houses, and workforce accommodation, which will be developed through partnership with the private sector as investment opportunities.
Speaking about Ibri Industrial City, Al Hasani said that Madayn is currently working on the infrastructure works of phase 1 at a cost of approximately RO 9 million in order to develop an area of about 3 million sqm of infrastructure. This includes asphalt roads with a length of more than 18 km, lighting, water and electricity networks, sewage networks, and communication network. The project is in the preparation stage, and a notice of commencement has been issued last October as the infrastructure project has to be delivered in its final form by mid-2023.
Madayn is also in the process of floating a tender for the one-stop shop in Ibri Industrial City, which will comprise a fuel station, hotel, public amenities, restaurants, and auto care services. The tender document is in the review stage and is expected to be floated before the end of this year.
With regard to Mahas Industrial City, the CEO of Madayn commented that the industrial city has begun with its administrative work in the wilayat of Khasab in Musandam governorate in early October this year to offer services to the factories that are localised in the industrial city, investors and businessmen. “Located on an area of 1,548,821 sqm, Mahas Industrial City presents competitive incentives to support the economic and social development in the governorate, attract local and regional investments, create job opportunities, and enhance the in-country value of the governorate’s natural resources,” Al Hasani said.
He added that work is currently in its final stages to award the tender for road and infrastructure construction of Mahas Industrial City on an area of one million sqm and at a cost of approximately RO 6 million. The tender is expected to be awarded by end of December this year and the project implementation to commence by the first quarter of 2022. This project comprises construction of internal road network, installation of lighting poles, construction of a bridge linking the industrial city to the main road, in addition to electricity, water and communication networks, water tank, sewage tank, construction of the administration building, fence, and rainwater drainage channels.
Madayn has also floated consultancy services tender for Al Mudhaibi Industrial City, which encompasses a detailed design for a total area touching 14 million sqm, and another detailed design for an area of 2 million sqm. It also includes planning of a number of warehouses and identifying 15 viable investment opportunities that depend on the governorate’s natural resources. The tender also consists of the allocation and identification of sectors, namely: logistics, industrial, commercial, food, tourism and construction sectors. In addition to these areas, the tender includes carrying out traffic, topographic, and environmental studies.
SOURCE: THEARABIANSTORIES