CRITICAL PILLAR
The Port of Salalah has proven to be successful in the region largely due to its geographic location, excellent connectivity, and competitive costs.
BIOGRAPHY
Mark Hardiman has 23 years of experience in shipping and ports, having worked in five different countries across three continents. He has been influential in driving growth and enhancing business performance across various functions, including operations, IT, and technical services. During these years, he has demonstrated his wide range of industry experience by implementing performance enhancements to operations and worked to further develop strategies with key port stakeholders.
What were some of the major highlights in 2019, and how are you working to increase the attractiveness of Salalah as a transport and logistics hub?
2019 was one of the most exciting years in the history of the port. The year saw a journey of recovery from the devastating Cyclone Mekunu in 2018 and handling of an all-time record in both general cargo and the container terminal of the port. The general cargo terminal handled 16.27 million MT and the container terminal handled 4.1 million TEUs in the year. Despite significant overcapacity in the region, the port recovered all its volumes that were re-directed to other ports in the region after the cyclone in less than a year. This also demonstrates the confidence and the continued support that Port of Salalah enjoys from the government and its customers. In 2019, Port of Salalah has also committed to significant incremental capital expenditure as part of its asset replacement and capacity augmentation program. On the operating environment, the port also achieved numerous milestones in productivity and as part of its digital transformation and successfully deployed our terminal operating system (TOS), which forms the backbone of its container terminal operations. Also, all equipment purchased by the port have advanced features that not only allow for better synergy with the terminal operating system but also reduce the overall life cycle cost of the equipment and are environmentally friendly in terms of lower emissions and lower fuel consumption. Moreover, we also recently joined the TradeLens platform, which is a blockchain-enabled digital shipping platform, where nearly half of the world's ocean container cargo is available.
What is your assessment on the logistic industry in Oman, and what role can Salalah play in enhancing its competitiveness?
Logistics is a critical pillar of the economic diversification initiative of the Sultanate of Oman, and Port of Salalah is expected to play a crucial role in this diversification strategy. In this sense, the port is already working with other stakeholders of the Salalah hub such as Salalah Free Zone, Salalah Airport, Mazyunah Free Zone, and Madayn to attract and anchor a diverse range of industries that leverage the location, unparalleled connectivity of Salalah, and competitive cost. We also act as a corridor for neighboring countries for aid and relief while simultaneously providing businesses in North Oman with significantly faster transit times to their key markets. This also increases the overall competitiveness of Omani companies globally. We are working with key stakeholders to replicate the hub concept that has successfully transformed Salalah into a container transshipment hub to other industries that allow for wider market penetration and diversification using Salalah as their hub.
How are you seeking to grow your general cargo and liquid cargo business?
Limestone and gypsum have been historically drivers for volume growth in the general cargo terminal. We are now focused on improving the overall productivity for handling these volumes and providing a competitive edge to the mining companies in Salalah. Simultaneously, a number of concepts are being tested to facilitate further diversification of commodities and customers in the general cargo terminal. Liquid cargo is presently one of the smaller segments of the cargo portfolio of SPS and contributes to about 13% of the total volumes. We will soon start the development of a tank terminal in Salalah to facilitate growth of the liquid business, since we see a huge potential in this segment. There are a number of ongoing developments like the Salalah LPG project and ammonia project that will substantially increase the liquid footprint of Salalah. In addition, the Central Service Corridor for the pipe rack is expected to be operational by mid 2020. There has been great interest from a number of companies to set up tank facilities in the free zone and use the port as a gateway via the common pipe rack. We also see strong interest in offering bunkering at Salalah both by barges and by trucks.
CRITICAL PILLAR
TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Azzan Al Busaidi, CEO, Ithraa
Azzan Al Busaidi is an expert in competitiveness and economic growth. He was appointed CEO of Ithraa in 2019 after 17 years spent covering managerial roles in the organization. Al Busaidi was previously Ithraa's director general of planning and studies and is a strong advocate of the potential of digitization. He holds an MBA from the University of Strathclyde and a BSc in Economics from Sultan Qaboos University.
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Qais bin Mohammed Al Yousef, Minister of Commerce, Industry & Investment Promotion & Former Chairman, Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry
Private Omani companies will be able to benefit greatly from the Fourth Industrial Revolution by enhancing their local value-added strategies and upskilling the workforce.
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Tahir Bin Salim Bin Abdullah Al Amri, Executive President, Central Bank of Oman (CBO)
The Central Bank of Oman's job is to ensure there is adequate liquidity in the system and that banks remain robust and resilient to meet the credit requirements of all segments without undermining financial stability.
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Capital markets
CMA and MSM are supporting Vision 2040 by providing financing to government companies that intend to go public, financing expansion of existing and new IPOs, and widening the investors base in Oman by enhancing and developing the investment funds and insurance industries.
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Khalid Al Balushi, CEO, Khazaen Economic City
International investors and business owners can benefit from Khazaen Economic City's strategic location and its close proximity to the main gateways of the country to import, process, manufacture, distribute locally, and export their goods and services.
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Investments in world-class infrastructure have generated huge rewards for Oman. The goal now is to leverage technology as a disruptive enabler, build human capacity across the public and private logistics sectors, and drive operational efficiencies to build an integrated logistics business environment that is benchmarked against the world's best.
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All bases covered
An amalgamation of local companies and unique experiences in Oman has created an original flavor that is further differentiating Oman's tourism offering from other countries and in the process attracting scores of tourists from all across the world.
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Engineering design
Renardet Engineering Consultants and Design Unit Engineering are recognized experts in their fields. While the former is an international company strongly committed to excellent engineering consultancy services and environmental practices, the latter is an Oman-based team of architects and engineers that incorporates local culture and traditions.
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Construction materials
Oman's construction sector is facing a host of challenges, but Hempel Paints and Al Maha Ceramics are confident that a mix of forward-thinking business models, unique products, and strong government initiatives will help them through turbulent times and generate positive returns in the long run.
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Salim Razvi, CEO, Oman Academic Accreditation Authority (OAAA)
Focusing on higher education institutional accreditation, program accreditation, and the updating and maintaining of the Oman Qualifications Framework, OAAA is helping further advance higher education in the Sultanate.
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