By Shamsa al Riyamia — MUSCAT — The seventh stage of expansion of the Sohar Industrial Estate, will begin by the end of the year and will cover an area of about 8.5 million square metres, which is one of the largest stages in the region, and will attract many projects next year. Abdel Qadir al Balushi, Acting Director-General, said 8 per cent of the total area of the estate has been allocated for the establishment of industrial projects, especially iron, steel, mining and manufacturing industries in the field of aluminium and plastic, in addition to commercial and logistics projects.
He added that the estate now stands on 13.3 million square metres and after the end of the seventh stage it will reach the total area of the 21.8 million square metres. The number of projects established stood at 187 of which 117 of them are operational and 40 are under construction. He pointed out that the most prominent of 
these projects are those associated with Sohar aluminium smelter and aluminium rolling mill project, a project under construction with an investment volume of $385 million.
There is also a draft for Omani Aluminium Company for the manufacture of electrical cables and a list of other projects in the region, including the Gulf International pipes factory, Voltamp Transformers Oman, and others. The total volume of current investment is around RO 1.673 million and is expected to increase during the next five years by about RO 25-50 million according to the current data and indicators.
The Public Establishment for Industrial Estates since its inception in 1993 contributed in diversifying the sources of national income, development of business environment in the Sultanate, generating jobs for citizens and attracting foreign and domestic investment for various projects. The government took many steps since the early years of renaissance to activate the policy of diversification of income, which is considered one of the most important objectives of the 
Five-Year Development Plans.
The Sohar Industrial Estate, which was came up in 1992 as part of the country’s 22nd National Day celebrations, has seen expansion in various stages. It now boasts of the needed infrastructure and services like water, drainage, electricity and communications. The estate which is about 220 km from Muscat, is noted as a very important site in the region as it works as a link between important markets. It is located between many local and Gulf ports, which provides flexibility and ease in transporting goods to and from major markets.
The existence of the region along Muscat-Al Batinah main road and near Sohar Industrial Port has earned it an outstanding status and received attention of many investors.
