The government of Oman has announced plans to set up a dairy firm with an investment of around OMR100m ($258.8m) to achieve self-sufficiency in dairy production and food security
The proposed project is being promoted by state-owned Oman Food Investment Holding (OFIC) and will have active equity participation from private sector, reports Times of Oman.
OFIC will own 20% stake in the dairy firm, while the remaining 80% stake will be owned by investment funds including pension funds and private investors, according to the news agency.
Commenting on the project, OFIC Follow-up and Studies chief Salim bin Saif Al Abdali was quoted by Times of Oman as saying: "We need to improve our self-sufficiency and food security of Oman in main food items like dairy, poultry and red meat. This is the first among several projects that are planned (by the company).
"Our plan is to raise domestic production of dairy products to 70 per cent of total demand by 2020."
The dairy firm will produce fresh milk, as well as fresh juice, mineral water, laban and yogurt.
OFIC claims that around 26% of the nation's dairy demand is being catered by local companies and the remaining is being catered by imports, mainly from other Gulf Cooperation Council countries.
Image: The dairy firm will produce fresh milk. Photo: courtesy of artur84 / freedigitalphotos.
