Fisheries Development Oman merges with Oman Food Investment Holding Company

An aerial view of Fisheries Development Oman's shrimp aquaculture project.
Fisheries Development Oman (FDO), which recently completed the pictured shrimp aquaculture project, has been merged with Oman Food Investment Holding Company | Photo courtesy of the Government of Oman
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Fisheries Development Oman (FDO) has been merged with Oman Food Investment Holding Company (NITAJ) by the Oman Investment Authority (OIA). 

FDO was founded in 2019 as a joint commitment between Oman’s Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries and the OIA. The OIA is the sultanate’s sovereign wealth fund, worth an estimated USD 50 billion (EUR 44.9 billion).

OIA said the merger will maximize efficiency of operations and expenditure at the two entities. It also said it would enhance Oman’s food security and boost the quality of products and cost efficiency in line with Oman Vision 2040 – a national directive designed to build the country into a global seafood power.

OIA said consolidation of FDO and NITAJ is "expected to substantially contribute to the growth of revenues generated from the synergy of the two merged companies." With the merger, contract procurement by the two companies will now be combined, as will other value chain operations such as logistics.

The authority remained noncommittal on the future of employees at both organizations, and said the merger "will consider the impact on employees of both companies and will be kept informed on relevant matters."

"The board of directors of both companies will share relevant and appropriate information with them while also holding open discussions about the project," OIA said in a statement.

Both companies have either recently completed, or are in the process of finalizing, expansion projects that OIA said would now require an assessment of each company's obligations, existing contracts and contractors to “ensure that such commitments will not be adversely affected by the merger of the two companies.”

The merger follows up on an earlier OIA announcement made in its 2023 annual report, when the authority said it would reorganize the governance of all its subsidiaries by restructuring their boards and executive managements

FDO's merger with NITAJ also coincides with the successful completion of an expansion of the Quriyat fish farming farm to an annual capacity of 5,000 metric tons (MT). FDO’s plans call for an OMR 71 million (USD 184.5 million, EUR 165.7 million), 20,000 MT land-based Atlantic salmon farm in Quriyat.

FDO also recently launched the first Omani tuna fishing ship, and the company completed a OMR 20 million (USD 52 million, EUR 47 million) shrimp-farming project that has commenced commercial production. 

And Simak’s new OMR 26 million (USD 67.5 million, EUR 62.8 million) sardine and tuna cannery opened in Dukm in March 2024.

OIA said there is an ongoing process to create additional investment opportunities in Oman's shrimp-farming space, and the authority said an international investor – which it did not name – is ready to enter a USD 1.6 billion (EUR 1.4 billion) partnership with the authority, the Oman Daily Observer reported.  


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