Your Highness, Sayyid Asa'ad bin Tarik al-Said, Deputy Prime Minister for International Relations and Cooperation Affairs, and Personal Representative of His Majesty, the Sultan of Oman – the patron of this ceremony.

Your Royal Highnesses King Phillippe Leopold Louis Marie, King of the Belgians, and Mathilde Marie Christine Ghislaine, Queen of the Belgians

Your Highnesses and Your Excellencies;

Esteemed guests

It is indeed my great honour and privilege to welcome you here today to officially inaugurate one of most significant infrastructure developments in the logistics sector, which translates Oman’s vision towards economic diversification and the acceleration of the logistics sector’s advancement, as underpinned by the National LogisticsStrategy- cementing the Sultanate’s position as a competitive logistics hub.

Today’s inauguration represents a pivotal step in Asyad Group’s continued efforts to achieve its strategy and plans of building an integrated logistics ecosystem under Asyad’s umbrella, fortifying the complementary amongst Omani ports; a fundamental pillar of the supply chain and the core of the trade flows, connecting Oman to the world.

Your Highness, patron of this ceremony

Through the joint efforts, the sustained support of various government authorities and the fruitful strategic partnership between Asyad Group and the Consortium Antwerp Port; the Port of Duqm is proceeding at a deliberate pace towards becoming a driving force for the national economy and a commercial gateway connecting international shipping routes from east to west.

Over the past three years, the Port of Duqm attracted 2242 vessels and saw an increase in general cargo handling traffic, heading towards profitability at early stages.

It is the readiness of the Port of Duqm which will help attract foreign investors and lay the foundation of a promising space that provides the business community with opportunities and give them access to global markets.

Honourable guests,

As you know, Duqm Port is situated nearby the oil and gas concession areas, which gives it a unique competitive advantage and enables it to serve energy and petrochemical sectors.

The Port had been instrumental in supporting oil and gas projects since its commissioning, through the handling of project cargo for the construction of the oil and gas sectors projects.

The Port also contributes to empowering the fisheries sector by providing logistics solutions to export fish to international markets at high standards. Moreover, it will be a major catalyst in enabling Oman to play a vital role on the international stage in the future clean energy projects such as the green hydrogen project.

Distinguished guests;

Asyad Group ramped up its efforts to develop Port of Duqm’s capabilities and increase its competitiveness by developing ASYAD Drydock services up to international standards, as an integral part of the port. Thanks to Asyad’s container Line service as well which was the first container shipping line calling Port of Duqm, and connecting it with other ports in Oman.

The strategic partnership that we forged with Consortium Antwerp Port captures the close ties between Oman and Belgium that we look forward to consolidating, while bringing the Port of Duqm to the forefront of the regional maritime landscape. We appreciate our Belgian partner’s continuous support to our national logistics capabilities by enabling Asyad’s national arm for ports and terminals management to operate Duqm’s general cargo terminal since 2021, and by providing maritime services through our partnership with CTO.

Esteemed guests;

Together with our partners, we strive to expand our local and international networks and partnerships by offering opportunities to operate the Port of Duqm’s container terminal, delivering on our goal to grow and augment the handling volumes at the port, and to attract new international shipping lines to Duqm, which will usher in economic and industrial prosperity in the region.

In conclusion;

I wish to extend our utmost gratitude to His Highness Sayyid Asaad bin Tarik al-Said, the patron of this ceremony, and to their majesties the King and Queen of the Belgians for attending this prominent event. We are thankful for your participation and the interest you have shown in supporting the Port of Duqm and elevating it to new heights.

We are thankful to OPAZ and all our strategic partners and port officials for their continuous efforts and contributions. We wish to reiterate our commitment to pursue all joint ventures to develop the national logistics sector and strengthen Oman’s leading position on the global logistics scene.

We pray that we can serve this blessed land to the best of our abilities under the wise leadership of His Majesty Sultan Haitham bin Tarik al-Said, may God bless him, and aid him as he guides us on the path of development and prosperity.

Peace be with you and the mercy and blessings of God.