Oman and Kazakhstan set up logistics and mining companies

Oman and Kazakhstan have agreed to set up two companies to widen their investment and economic ties.

The agreement was signed during the visit of Oman’s Minister of Finance Sultan Al Habsi in Astana.

“These two companies in logistics and mining will widen our investments and economic portfolios as we look to establish common ground for our bilateral relations between Oman and Kazakhstan,” Al Habsi told Oman Television.

He added that Kazakhstan’s experience in mining and logistics “will add a new dimension” to Oman’s ambitions to the two sectors. 

One of the sultanate’s biggest logistics plans is the building of a metro in Muscat to improve transport connectivity in the capital city. It also intends to award road projects in different parts of the country at an estimated cost of $400 million in its current Five-Year Plan. 

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State-run Minerals Development Oman (MDO) is spearheading the Sultanate’s drive in the mining sector with a series of projects such as the extraction of silica, titanium, chromite and copper.

MDO operates 14 concession areas across Oman and has found almost 500,000 tonnes of chromite, 111 million tonnes of high-purity silica and 242 million tonnes of dolomite.

The two countries also signed a bilateral agreement to avoid double taxation and prevent tax evasion on income and capital.