On February 3, 2026, Sultan Al Marshad, CEO of the Saudi Development Fund, and Sultan Al Habsi, Minister of Finance of Oman, officially signed a memorandum of understanding in Oman. Saudi Arabia will provide $40 million in funding to Oman through its Development Fund for the construction of a new comprehensive industrial city in the Zafar Province of Oman. This cooperation marks a new level of partnership between the two countries in the field of regional industrial development.

A comprehensive park covering 3.94 million square meters

The planned industrial city covers an area of approximately 3.94 million square meters, equivalent to the size of 553 standard football fields, which is above average in the Middle East region. The park will be equipped with comprehensive infrastructure including administrative service buildings, public facilities, a well-developed road network, power and water supply systems, and two sewage treatment plants. According to the plan, the industrial city will be built according to modern industrial park standards, committed to providing a full chain support environment for enterprises from production to operation, aiming to form an industrial agglomeration effect and accommodate diverse formats from small and medium-sized manufacturing enterprises to large-scale industrial projects.

Assist in the industrial upgrading of Zofar Province

The industrial city is located in the largest province in Oman, Zofar Province, which accounts for about one-third of Oman's land area. It has important economic infrastructure such as the Dukum Special Economic Zone and the Port of Salalah, and is a key gateway for Oman to the African and Asian markets. In recent years, the industrial output value of Zofar Province has continued to grow, with a year-on-year increase of 7.2% in industrial added value in 2024, higher than the national average. Among them, food processing, building materials production, and chemical manufacturing are the main industries. The construction of this project will directly promote the development of the local industrial and logistics sectors, and strengthen the regional economic hub position. Keywords: Infrastructure Engineering News and Information, Infrastructure Engineering News Network

Deepening bilateral cooperation and diversifying industries

Saudi Arabia and Oman are both members of the Gulf Cooperation Council and have close economic ties. The bilateral trade volume between the two countries will reach 8.6 billion US dollars in 2024, an increase of 42% compared to 2020. As of the end of 2024, Saudi Arabia's cumulative investment in Oman has exceeded $5.8 billion, mainly concentrated in the fields of energy, mining, and tourism. The investment in this industrial city project is highly in line with Oman's national development strategy "Vision 2040", which aims to increase the contribution of industry to GDP from 15% in 2020 to 30% by 2040 and create over 500000 industrial jobs. The implementation of the project will further promote the diversification of Oman's industry and consolidate the cooperative relationship between the two countries in regional economic development.Editor/Gao Xue