The Omani and Qatari promoters of a bus assembly plant project, the first of its kind in Oman, will break ground for the venture at a ceremony set to be held at the Duqm Special Economic Zone (SEZ) on November 13, said a report.

Doha-based Karwa Automobiles, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Qatari national transportation company Mowasalat, is a 70 per cent shareholder in Karwa Duqm, the joint venture company which is developing the sultanate’s first automotive plant in Duqm, said a report in Oman Daily Observer.

Oman Investment Fund (OIF), a sovereign wealth fund of the sultanate, owns the balance 30 per cent stake.

The total investment in the venture is estimated at RO160 million ($415.5 million).

Actual construction work on the project, which is coming up on a 100-hectare site at the SEZ, is expected to commence only sometime early next year.

The project is currently in the design stage, added the report.