Free Zone

Oman has three Free Trade Zones and 2 Special Economic Zones available for business set up.

Free Zones: Al Mazunah Free Zone, Sohar Free Zone and Salalah Free Zone

Special Economic Zones: Duqm Special Economic Zone and Knowledge Oasis Muscat Special Economic Zone

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About Oman Free Zones

There are 3 Free Zones and 2 Special Economic Zones in Oman:

Al Mazunah Free Zone – Hub for commercial, service and industrial sectors
Sohar Free Zone – Hub for plastics, metals, minerals, food, petrochemicals and service sectors
Salalah Free Zone – Hub for chemical and material processing, manufacturing and assembly, logistics and distribution sectors
Duqm Special Economic Zone – Hub for refineries, oil storage, transport, fish and food, logistics, warehousing, minerals, and tourism sectors
Knowledge Oasis Muscat Special Economic Zone – Hub for science, IT and knowledge-based sectors

Benefits

Each of the Free Zones and the Special Economic Zones offer slightly different benefits for doing business within the zone. They offer benefits such as

infrastructure to support different business activities
Tax holiday – 0% corporate tax for us to 10 years
100% Foreign Ownership
No Import or export duties
0% sales or personal income tax

An example of more specific benefits for the Duqm Special Economic Zone would be its connectivity and transport systems with modern roads, ports and airports.

Requirements

To simplify the process, company formation in Oman Free Zones is achieved in three key steps.

Submit Free Zone application via the relevant portal including NOC letter to Ministry of Environment and Climate Affairs
Plot allocation
Sign Usufruct agreement

Supporting documents required

Investors names and country of origin
Plot size required
Capital investment
Business plan
Employee requirements
Contact information and documents of investor
Projected cargo volume
Projected total electricity and water required

Only 1 director is required to register in an Oman Free Zone.

Usufruct agreement is a land right granted by owner (either an Omani national or a government authority) to allow a company to form within this zone.

Rental of commercial space in the specified Free Zone is mandatory regardless of the company size.

Yes, a minimum of 10% of your companies’ employees must be Omani hires. Please check the Omanisation requirements within your specific Free Zone.

No. Free zones allow non-Omani investors to own 100% of their company.

For Omani owned SMEs, some service fees for SMEs have been reduced by up to 50% if they are register with Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority (SMEDA).

Sohar Free zone is less than a 3-hour drive from Dubai.