Oman is building its textile and garment sector. The country has some advantages like land, labor, capital and organization and a logistical cutting edge due to its strategic positioning. Other advantages are an ample supply of power and energy and proximity to strategic ports.

Textiles can be one of the major non-oil exports of the Sultanate. A young population can be trained in automatic machines, robotic machines and other technologies of garment manufacturing to help the nation mark its presence in the global textile map. In 2006, there were about 25 garment factories in and around the capital but today this number has shrunk.

Oman has a free trade agreement with the US. There’s no garment manufacturing or trading between these two countries however, there is a clause for yarn and fabric movement, which Oman wants to activate. The country hopes to produce cotton, develop yarn spinning mills, and from that initiate an automatic spinning industry. Technology can reduce the cost of production.

The present clause is that any yarn or fabric bought from another country cannot be exported to the US. But if duty concessions can be secured under the FTA, Omani-made products can be exported to the US.