Oman Eyes Top Spot In Regional Logistics Race

In a new episode of Marketplace Middle East, CNN’s Eleni Giokos explores how Oman is playing a key role in facilitating the transport of goods between markets in the East and the West.

 Last year, Oman announced plans to invest $6.5 billion in its local transport and logistics industry by 2025. Abdulrahman Al Hatmi CEO of the ASYAD Group, speaks about his company’s growth, “Over the past seven years we have been growing double digit in everything – revenue, EBITDA, net profit, will be growing and I think now we have built the right platform to grow further even outside Oman.”

 The logistics sector in the region is competitive, but Al Hatmi believes ASYAD are ahead. He tells Giokos, “Everybody’s doing the same, trying to do the same on the integrated model. We have the first move advantage, which is good. So, we’re building on that, but we have of course the competition is there and it’ll be fierce competition, which is good for us because it keeps us on our toes. And we are targeting to be in the top 10 globally by 2040.”

 Achieving these targets in a region that has faced several external threats in recent years will not be easy. However, Al Hatmi says that with every challenge, there is also opportunity, “Because of Oman’s success in being neutral and the success of diplomacy in Oman, we’re trying to capitalise on that as ASYAD to provide customers with safe passage and solutions to customers in the Red Sea area. We’re well positioned to do that. But the longer the Red Sea issue continues, of course I think the more demand will be on our services.”