In next five years, Oman plans to list 35 state-owned companies

Oman is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula at the confluence of the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea.

Muscat is the capital and also the largest city in the country. The country has a monarchy, Sultan Haitham bin Tariq Al Said is the ruler of the country.

On Sunday, Haitham bin Salem al Salmi, the chief executive of the Muscat Stock Exchange (MSX), told CNBC Arabia that Oman plans to list 35 state-owned enterprises, including one or two oil companies, over the next five years, with one or two oil companies slated to go public this year.

The country wants aims to raise its capital market sector and make the sultanate’s stock exchange globally competitive and attractive for foreign investors.

The Muscat Stock Exchange announced an increase in the maximum amount of foreign ownership in joint-stock corporations to 100 %.

Haitham Al-Salmi said Foreign trading currently accounts for 14.5 percent of total trading on the MSX. The banking sector accounts for 58 percent of the MSX, which makes it “attractive” for foreign trade.

According to data by Bloomberg, the kingdom is one of the most active IPO markets in the Middle East and Africa as Saudi Arabian companies raised almost $9.3 billion from share offerings last year.

According to Reuters in November, Oman’s state-owned energy sector OQ is investigating local listings for certain of its downstream and upstream businesses but has no plans to float the parent company, as revealed by a senior official at the state-owned energy group.