Investment in Oman's burgeoning Sohar Freezone cluster of food processing businesses is paving the way for more food packaging and logistics businesses to make the Sohar Port their home.

Conrad Prabhu for the Oman Daily Observer reported that this hub has the potential to lay the foundations for an export-oriented processed foods industry, according to one senior executive for the port, which is already invested in a joint partnership with the Port of Rotterdam, the largest logistics hub in Europe, which has a world-leading food cluster of its own.

Jamal Aziz, Deputy CEO of Sohar Port and Freezone, was quoted by the news source as saying: "Although it is too early to release specific names, I can say that there has been huge interest from the food sector nationally, regionally and internationally."

He told the news source that the growth of the Freezone will create more job opportunities for local people, while playing a key role in supporting the Sultanate's strategy to grow its processed food export market, with potential for a "host of spin-off benefits for the logistics and packaging sectors".

Some $21 billion in investment capital has been pumped onto the Freezone and Sohar Port area over the past decade to establish a smooth-running infrastructure of transport links.

Many major packaging players are already entering the fray with confidence and Aziz revealed that Ompet has already decided to establish a $600 million facility producing some 250,000 tonnes of PET per year.