Oman’s fisheries sector is expected to receive RO640 million ($1.6 billion) worth of private sector-led investments as part of its next phase of growth, said a report.

Malaysian-based Permandu Associates, a private firm tapped by the Omani government to support the modernisation of the traditional fisheries sector in the sultanate, noted that the country’s shift to a private sector-led growth model has “brightened” prospects for the future of this industry, added the Oman Daily Observer report.

A landmark ‘Fisheries Lab’ supported by Permandu Associates in 2017, as part of Oman’s National Programme for Enhancing Economic Diversification (Tanfeedh), has paved the way for the transformation of the sultanate’s fisheries sector, it said.

The Lab focused on three key objectives: harnessing Oman’s natural biomass potential in the Sea of Oman, Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean; developing high-value aquaculture projects in collaboration with the private sector; and driving investment in a thriving processing and exports sector focused on value addition to raw produce.

As a result of the Lab, more than 20 projects worth RO640 million in investment are in various stages of implementation. It includes the world’s largest shrimp farm in Barr al Hikmah, the report said quoting Permandu Associates.