The Omani Authority For Partnership For Development Issues New Regulations

As we reported last year, the Omani Authority for Partnership for Development (OAPFD) was established in 2014 to oversee and manage Oman's offset regime, the Partnership for Development (PFD) programme. On 3 June 2015, the OAPFD published new regulations governing this programme.

At the heart of the PFD programme is the promotion of the social and economic development of Oman. To this end, foreign companies that contract with the Oman government, or with a company in which the Oman government holds more than 50% of the shares, must invest part of the value of that contract back into projects that will benefit Oman. There is a strong emphasis on the need for sustainability of such projects, so that the value they add will continue after the foreign contractor has been discharged.

Key elements of the newly published PFD regulations:

Application All contracts and subcontracts between the government/government companies and foreign companies with a value of more than OMR (Omani Rial) 5 million (approximately US$ 13 million) Also applies to: (i) a foreign contractor that receives more than one contract in a 24-month period and the cumulative value exceeds OMR 5 million (ii) running contracts where the total estimated value of the entire contract exceeds OMR 5 million (iii) single contracts with multiple suppliers of the same products or services and the value of the imported content exceeds OMR 5 million (on a pro rata basis) (iv) all contracts...