By Libya Herald staff.
Tripoli, 30 December 2013:
A delegation from the Libyan Export Promotion Centre has been to Oman this past week . . .[restrict]to develop ties with businesses and organisations in the Sultanate, as well as to learn from Oman’s experience in developing industrial estates, and boost bilateral trade and investment cooperation.
On 24 December, the delegation visited Rusayl Industrial Estate, which is run by Oman’s Public Establishment for Industrial Estates (PEIE).
The Libyan delegates also saw the Industrial Innovation Centre which has been tasked with creating a culture of innovation within the Omani industrial sector.
Other visits included the Sohar Industrial Zone, the Sohar branch of the Oman Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Sohar Industrial Port Company, Oman’s Pubic Authority for Investment Promotion and Export Development, the Export Credit Guarantee Agency of Oman, the Public Authority for the Development of Small and Medium Enterprises, the General Directorate for Investment Promotion and Export Development, and the Directorate General of Customs.
There is, historically, something of a special relationship between Oman and Libya, based in part on the fact that most Omanis and many members of Libya’s Amazigh community are Ibadi Muslims. This has led to Libyan-Omani marriages and family links between the two places. As a result, a number of Libyans sought asylum on Oman after Qaddafi staged his coup d’etat in 1979 and the following year, when Sultan Qaboos came to power, a small number of Libyans emerged as advisers to him.
More recently, in 2011, just after the Libyan revolution started, it was Oman that took the initiative among Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states in calling for a No-Fly zone over Libya. Having approved it, the GCC then took the call to the Arab League and finally from there it went to the UN.
In April, just before he resigned as president of the General National Congress, Mohamed Magarief led a Libyan political and economic mission to Oman. It saw ties grow despite the fact the Oman had given political asylum to Qaddafi’s son Mohamed, daughter Aisha, her sons and husband, as well as other Qaddafi relatives. [/restrict]
