Oman Economic Review – July 2019

54 July 2019

G

iving Oman’s fisheries sector

a shot in the arm and booting

the export potential of fisheries

resources in Oman’s Al Wusta

region, the Special Economic Zone

Authority of Duqm (SEZAD) has decided

to increase the depth of the fishing

harbor in Duqm to 10 metres from

the existing six metres. The decision,

recently announced by HE Yahya bin

Said Al Jabri, chairman of SEZAD, is

aimed at increasing the capacity of

the port to attract large fishing vessels

operating on the high seas, in addition

to enhancing the economic value of the

port, which will become the first port in

the Sultanate to reach that depth.

“The decision comes in line with the

development of commercial fishing in

the world, adding that the depth of the

harbour is in line with the requirements

of this sector as there are ships equipped

for fishing purposes or for the purposes

of exporting fish, which need a basin

deeper than 6 metres, thus comes the

idea of increasing the basin depth to 10

metres,” said HE Yahya Al Jabri.

“SEZAD is working to make the fishing

harbour in Duqm one of the regional

ports capable of providing the various

services needed by the large fishing

vessels and thus contributing to

enhancing the performance of the fish

industries near the harbor, which aims

to make Duqm a key centre for fish

industries in the Sultanate,” he adds.

The fishing harbour of Duqm is

currently witnessing an acceleration

in its construction operations and the

number of employees at the site is

about 500 people. It is expected that

FISHERIES

BOOSTING

EXPORT POTENTIAL

SEZAD’s decision to increase the depth of

fishing harbor in Duqm to 10 metres will

enable the port to attract large fishing

vessels operating on the high seas

the harbour will be ready by the end of

2020 or the beginning of 2021.

Touching on the economic importance

of the fishing harbour in Duqm, he

said, “The fishing harbour of Duqm is

one of the most important components

of the special economic zone of Duqm.

The fisheries sector in Duqm is one

of the most promising sectors in the

region, as the region has a large stock

of fish wealth that contributes to the

supply of other sectors in the region

and the revitalisation of the economic

movement.”

He adds, “Therefore, since the

beginning of the planning of the

economic zone, the government has

endeavoured to establish a fishing

harbour and a nearby fish industries

area, that’s concerned with the fishery

industries so that the harbour and the

region will activate all services related

to fish wealth.”

Fisheries industry

Asked about the investment projects

that will be established in the fisheries

industry, Al Jabri adds, “The region

is witnessing a good interest from