With a free zone currently under development, business is set to soar. Salalah and Oman LNG may now be up and running, but the government's development drive is far from stagnant. Currently under development is the industrial port complex at Sohar. Both would take advantage of readily available Omani natural gas, which is to be piped direct to Sohar from onshore gas fields. An industrial estate already exists in Sohar, and it is hoped that large projects, such as the aluminium and petrochemical plants, will provide the catalyst needed to inspire a wave of small and medium-sized industrial ventures.
Tourism is another area where there is genuine scope for growth.
Oman genuinely does have attractions which Dubai doesn't have. They have the mountains, the dunes, the wadis, the coastline. They have more than 500 forts, the lost city of Ubak and the tomb of the Queen of Sheba. They also have the Khareef monsoon season, which is immensely popular in July and August for people living in the Gulf who want to enjoy the cool temperatures and the greenery. Several new projects are either launching or under development, including the Radisson SAS hotel in Muscat, the Hilton hotel in Salalah and Al Sawadi tourist village north of Muscat - comprising three hotels, two golf courses and a host of leisure facilities.