The Oman Ministry of Finance has recently clarified that withholding tax applies to payments for services to foreign persons regardless of where the services are performed. This makes it unnecessary to determine the place where a service is performed and therefore removes considerable uncertainty.
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The Sultanate’s on-going efforts to liberalise and diversify the economy offer greater opportunity for enhanced trade, investment and economic ties between Omani and US firms, according to a high-ranking official of the US Chamber of Commerce. Khush Chosky (pictured), Senior Vice President for Middle East and Turkish Affairs, also pledged to work with the Chamber’s new local affiliate, the Oman American Business Center (OABC), to help deepen economic and commercial relations between the two countries.
The Oman American Business Center (OABC) has officially joined the US Chamber of Commerce and this affiliation marks an important step for the organisation and its members.
Renewable energy project will be structured under the independent power producer model
Petroleum Development Oman (PDO) is planning to develop a 100MW photovoltaic (PV) solar plant at Amin, located in the southern region of the sultanate.
Developers have been invited to submit expressions of interest by 31 January for the 100MW solar project, with the client planning to receive bids in May 2018.
The solar plant is planned to be PDO’s first independent power producer (IPP) project. PDO will be the sole off-taker for the project, and will buy all of the electricity produced by the solar farm.
The contract will involve the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the solar plant for the duration of the power purchase agreement (PPA), which will be for a period of 23 years.
State utility Oman Power & Water Company (OPWP) is also moving ahead with plans to develop solar energy on a large-scale as part of the sultanate’s plans to diversify its energy resources.
In December, OPWP issued a request for qualifications (RFQ) for a photovoltaic (PV) solar independent power project in Ibri, which is about 300 kilometres inland from Muscat. The proposed plant with have a power generation capacity of 500 MW
OPWP says that the RFQ is for developers and is not applicable for engineering, procurement and construction contractors.
The closing date for submitting documents is the 22 February 2018.
MEED reported in early November that OPWP had appointed Germany’s Fichtner and the UK’s DLA Piper as the technical and legal advisers for the scheme. In October, MEED reported that OPWP had appointed US/India’s Synergy Consulting as financial adviser for the solar project.
The proposed IPP will be the second utility-scale renewables project planned in Oman, with the UAE’s Masdar announcing in 2014 it was planning to develop a 50MW wind farm in the southern part of the sultanate in partnership with the local Rural Areas Electricity Company (Raeco).
08 JANUARY 2018 10:29 AM BY ANDREW ROSCOE HTTPS://WWW.MEED.COM/OMAN-OIL-FIRM-PLANS-100MW-SOLAR-PLANT/
Oman’s Ministry of Finance has reportedly postponed any move on Value-Added Tax (VAT) until 2019, but it will start selectively taxing some goods in mid-2018, according to the government broadcaster.
OABC member 23 Degrees North received Oman’s 2017 Best Architect and Best Sustainability Project this October. The Dossier Construction awards continue a long line of firsts achieved by 23 Degrees North since its founding in 2011 by Nadia Maqbool, starting with Nadia’s achievement of being the first chartered female architect in Oman. Sustainability has been at the heart of 23 Degrees North’s passion for delivering world-class architecture that is both cutting edge and authentically Omani.