The total Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the Sultanate at the end of the second quarter of 2020 reached OMR 15,440.0 million, recording an increase by 13.2% compared to the same period of 2019, when it was OMR 13,642.0 million. 
 
The foreign investment flow in Oman reached OMR 1,797.9 million, according to the data on the preliminary results of the performance of FDI issued by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).
 
The United Kingdom ranked first for its FDI in Oman at the end of the second quarter of 2020 with OMR 7,808.3 million, up from OMR 7,084.2 million in the same period of 2019; followed by the United States of America, with OMR 1,818.9 million, an increase from OMR 1,675.7 million in the same period of 2019; and then by the United Arab Emirates, with an amount of OMR 1,265.2 million, compared to OMR 1,166.1 million at the end of the second quarter of 2019.
 
The FDI of Kuwait in the Sultanate reached OMR 933.5 million, compared to OMR 826.9 million, and that of China reached OMR 848.5 million, up from OMR 75 million. The FDI from the Kingdom of Bahrain in Oman at the end of the second quarter of 2020 reached OMR 436.1 million compared to OMR 391.2 million at the same period of 2019, and that from the state of Qatar reached OMR 404.8 million, up from OMR 345.4 million.   
 
The investments of the Republic of India in Oman until the end of the second quarter of 2020 reached OMR 317.5 million, followed by the Kingdom of the Netherlands at OMR 337.4 million, up from OMR 298.7 million in the same period of 2019. The FDI from the Republic of Switzerland reached OMR 280 million compared to OMR 229.3 million in 2019 while the investments of other countries in Oman till the end of the second quarter of 2020 reached RO 998.7 million, declining from OMR 1,226.7 million in the same period of 2019.

The NCSI data also show that the FDI in oil and gas extraction activities in Oman acquired RO 9.89 billion, up from OMR 9 billion in the same period of 2019 while the FDI in the manufacturing sector at the end of the second quarter of 2020 reached OMR 1.55 billion, a fall from OMR 1.64 billion in 2019.
 
The data point out that FDI in the financial intermediation sector in the Sultanate till the end of the second quarter of 2020 reached OMR 1.42 billion, which is the same figure as that of the same period of 2019 while the foreign investment in the real estate sector activities in the Sultanate till the end of the second quarter of 2020 reached OMR 1.14 billion, increasing from OMR 719.5 million in 2019. The foreign investment in other activities in Oman till the end of the second quarter of 2020 reached OMR 1.42 billion, increasing from OMR 904.7 million in the same period of 2019.

SOURCE: THEARABIANSTORIES