Oman-based Mazoon Dairy Company (MDC), under the country’s national food security initiative, will set up an RO118-million ($306.4 million) dairy project at Al Sunaynah in Buraimi, said a report.

The agreement for the first phase of the project involving RO1.3 million ($3.37 million) was signed yesterday (December 25) by MDC chairman and CEO Rashid Bin Salim Al Masroori and Abu Hatem Group CEO, added the Oman Tribune report.

Al Masrori said that the company targets the sultanate achieving at least 87 per cent self-sufficiency in dairy products over 10 years.

He added that the agreement for the main stage which includes establishing large facilities, barns and factory, will be signed in the first quarter of 2017.

The project is expected to be completed in July 2018 after which the production start immediately.

It will provide 2,300 jobs over the next 10 years and achieve 70 per cent Omanisation.

Al Masrori noted that the company aims to produce approximately 202 million litres by 2026, and 985 million litres by 2040, in order to reduce the volume of imports from 69 per cent in 2014 to 13 per cent in 2026.