Oman, Rhineland-Palatinate trade reaches 45m euros
By Hasan Kamoonpuri
MUSCAT — Foreign trade between Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany and Oman has almost quadrupled from 10 million euros in 2004 to nearly 45 million euros in 2008 in spite of the global economic and financial crisis. Prof Dr Siegfried Englert, State Secretary, Germany's Ministry for Economics, Transport, Agriculture and Viniculture of Rhineland-Palatinate, said here yesterday the trade volume between Oman and Rheinland-Pfalz has increased by 339 per cent from 10.3 million euros in 2004 to 45 million euros in 2008.

Dr Englert, who is heading a trade delegation consisting of specialised companies from Rhineland-Palatinate and governmental representatives, said, "Germany is one of the most important suppliers of Oman, after the UAE, Japan, India and the USA". He said "not only foreign trade has good opportunities for intensifying economic co-operation. The signs are positive for co-operations as well as investments. The highlights of the visit will be business-to-business-event of various high-profile companies from the German delegation of Rhineland-Palatinate with Omani companies and a workshop on "Circular Economy and Material Flow Management" conducted by the Oman Society of Engineers (OSE) and the German Institute for Applied Material Flow Management (IfaS).

According to Dr Englert, the goal of the delegation is to continue the beneficial development between Germany and Oman during the difficult situation on the economic and financial market all over the world. The German Ambassador to Oman Angelika Storz-Chakarji lauded Oman's vision of modern development, which focuses on education, human resources development and environmental protection. She said Germany is ever ready to expand and deepen economic co-operation with Oman in different fields.

Dr Englert said, "as the first co-operation exchange of our business tour begins today and I am excited to hear which co-operation opportunities you will put forward. On the part of Rhineland-Palatinate, the start-up conditions are excellent. Our enterprises are optimally positioned across all business segments and highly competitive, they have top products at their disposal and the required courage to open up foreign markets".

The visiting German trade delegation represents a wide range of the industry in Rhineland-Palatinate, ranging from mechanical engineering, to environmental technology and renewable energies, from electrical engineering, to engineering services and the consumer goods industry. The export ratio of Rhineland-Palatinate in the manufacturing industry was just under 50 per cent in 2008. Thus, Rhineland-Palatinate assumes a leading position among the 16 German federal states, said Dr Englert.