Oman and United States sign agreement to enhance economic cooperation

The Sultanate of Oman, represented by the Ministry of Finance, today signed a valuable memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the American Export-Import Bank (EXIM)

The MoU, signed on the sidelines of the first Strategic Dialogue session between Oman and the US, aims to enhance economic cooperation between the two sides through financing for trade in goods and services.

The understanding, worth up to 192 million Omani riyals (500 million US dollars), sets out an agreement to discuss options for Oman to benefit from EXIM financing to support trade and investment in strategic sectors of the Omani economy, from alternative energy sources to manufacturing.

The MoU was signed on the Omani side by Abdullah bin Salem Al Harthy, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Finance and on the American side by Reta Jo Lewis, President of EXIM.

Finance Ministry Undersecretary Al Harthy said that the memorandum would enhance trade and investment cooperation between  Oman and the United States. He noted that trade between the two countries rose to US$4.2 billion in 2022. This, he said was in addition to the remarkable growth and progress in cooperation in various fields between the two sides in recent years.

The memorandum aims to provide financial facilities for establishing projects in the industrial sectors such as wireless communication equipment (including fifth generation networks), biotechnology, renewable energy, agriculture, water and wastewater treatment, mining and manufacturing.

The memorandum also includes a preliminary plan for joint action between the Government of Oman and the US Export-Import Bank to explore options for using financing US exports such as loans, guarantees and insurance.

This is an unofficial English version of an Arabic report. To view the official Arabic text, click here.