India, Oman aim to seal mega trade deal

Seoul, PTI: India and Oman are looking at sealing a broad trade and investment pact this year that will cut tariffs on each other's goods and boost the overall trade basket in line with renewed vigour in the relations, especially in the economic sphere. The negotiations for a comprehensive economic partnership agreement gained new momentum after Oman's Sultan Haitham bin Tarik travelled to India over a year back.

Omani Commerce Minister Qais bin Mohammad Al-Yousef told PTI that Muscat is hopeful of concluding the ambitious trade pact with India this year that is expected to significantly expand the two-way trade and investment ties between the two countries. There has been a major upswing in economic ties between the two countries in the last few years, with India emerging as one of the top trading partners of Oman. India was the fourth largest market for Oman's crude oil exports for the year 2023 after South Korea. India was also the third largest market for Oman's non-oil exports in 2023 after Saudi Arabia. "The comprehensive economic partnership agreement is still under negotiations," the Omani Commerce Minister said.

"We already had several rounds of negotiations... we will see how it progresses," Al-Yousef said in an interaction with a group of visiting journalists. A fresh round of negotiations was held in New Delhi on January 13 and 14, and it is learnt that progress has been made on a number of areas. Al-Yousef said Oman is keen to expand overall trade relations with India and that there is a lot of interest from Indian investors in Oman. "We have several larger investors (from India) having shown interest in Oman and they are planning for the future," he said, without elaborating. Like Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, Oman is also looking at reducing its reliance on oil revenues by focusing on clean energy sources and promoting various other sectors in line with Oman's 'Vision 2040'.

The 'Vision 2040' is a roadmap for Oman's economic and social development for the period of 2021-2040. It was approved by Sultan Haitham Bin Tarik in 2020 and then it was put into action in January 2021. The Omani Commerce Minister also complimented India for its impressive economic growth in the last over 20 years, calling the "achievements" and economic growth rate "very impressive". "The people of India really worked hard to achieve economic growth."