Local tourism developer Omran is set to present $1bn worth of projects to investors in an upcoming forum being held in Muscat.

Omran will present opportunities in Madinat al-Irfan Urban City located next to Muscat International Airport as well as a number of office buildings, retail malls, district cooling plants, hotel schemes, recreational and hospitality developments, according to a company statement.

The company’s chief investment officer Salah al-Ghazali was quoted in local media saying “[the forum] is in line with the government’s Ninth Five-Year Plan and its national tourism strategy. [We] are working with the private sector to develop unique tourist and real estate destinations and innovative urban communities.”

Omran has been looking at ways to encourage private sector participation, and in January this year it announced a $1.3bn waterfront development around Port Sultan Qaboos in Muscat.

The project, due to be completed over four phases up to 2027, will be 51 per cent state-owned through the Oman Tourism Development Company (Omran) and the remaining 49 per cent will be held by investors.

In January this year MEED reported Al-Hhazali saying “new development funding arrangements such as these reflect the growing number of opportunities for private sector equity involvement and the rise of mutual partnerships. “We are currently finalising a new investment strategy at Omran that capitalises on these emerging opportunities for tourism development.”