Sisi’s visit to Oman highlights economic aspects between 2 countries

CAIRO – 4 February 2018: President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi visits Muscat on Sunday for the first time since he took office, upon an invitation from Sultan of Oman Qaboos bin Said al-Said.

The Egyptian president and his accompanying delegation will meet a number of Omani businessmen and investors to discuss increasing cooperation in different economic sectors, the official spokesperson of Egyptian Presidency, Bassam Radi, said.

The economic relationship and cooperation between the two countries comes as activation for the Great Arab Trade Agreement.

The Greater Arab Free Trade Area is an economic alliance between the Arab States for economic integration and low tariffs trade. The Greater Arab Free Trade area entered into force from the beginning of 2005.

Upon this relationship and as meetings between presidential and economic officials take place, Egypt Today reviews the economic relationship between Egypt and Oman.





Trade Exchange

The latest report by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) showed that the volume of trade exchange between Egypt and Oman witnessed a remarkable improvement during the first eight months of last year, recording $247.749 million, up from $162.215 million in the year before.

The volume of Egyptian exports to Oman increased to $117.061 million, during the period between January and August of 2017, compared to $90.858 million in the same period of 2016, according to the CAPMAS report.

Imports from Oman jumped to $130.688 million in the first eight months of this year compared to $71.357 million during the corresponding period of last year, with an increase of $73.930 dollars.

The volume of trade exchange between the two countries grew during the period from 2004 to 2008. The statistics indicate that in 2004, the volume of trade reached $37,263 million, while Egyptian imports from Oman amounted to $12.67 million.

In 2007, the volume of trade exchange recorded $208.87 million, while Egyptian imports were worth $158.67 million.

The volume of trade in 2008 was $208.97 million, while the volume of Egyptian imports reached $194.08 million.

Egyptian Companies in Oman

More than 142 Egyptian companies are operating in Oman with a capital of $194.68 billion (OMR 74.76 billion).

They are operating at many fields including public trade, contracting, finance and securities, engineering investments, design, tourism, insurance and educational services.

The First Egyptian Company was founded in Oman in 1978 and was followed by eight companies in the 1980s.

In the 1990s, 29 Egyptian companies were added to the Omani market, while after 2000, 108 companies entered the Omani market.

Oman has more than 59,000 Egyptian employees, according to the latest reports.

Economic Agreements between Egypt and Oman

After Oman signed a free trade agreement with the U.S., it encouraged foreign investments to enter its economic market which opened the door for Egyptian products to invest in its market as well.

On February 24, 2017 Egypt and Oman signed three bilateral cooperation agreements between the two ministries of manpower of the respective countries at the end of the 13th session of the Egyptian-Omani joint commission meetings that were held in Cairo under the chairmanship of Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Omani Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Youssef Bin Alawi.


The two ministers launched the arrangements for the 14th session of the Egyptian-Omani joint committee, scheduled to be held in Muscat in the current year.


On May 17, 2017, bilateral meetings were held between the companies of the two countries to promote trade exchange. The bilateral meetings between Egyptian -Omani companies aimed at boosting trade exchange between the two countries. It included 25 exporting companies from the largest commercial companies in the Sultanate and 95 Egyptian companies that have been importing from major governments and private companies.