The Sultanate of Oman has raised the value of its investments in the Turkish Port of Kumport, after increasing its share to 70%.
The Turkish port is considered the third largest container port in the country, and has a strategic place in transportation.
Earlier, the State General Reserve Fund announced that it would retain its 35% stake in the port on the Bosphorus Strait, which can handle more than 1.2 million containers annually.
The history of the Omani fund’s investment in the port dates back to 2011, when it acquired 35% of the port’s shares.
This long-term investment is a translation of the strategy pursued by the fund in its investments, of which the port and logistics sector is one of its main pillars.
The Omani fund acquired a new 65% stake in the port’s shares, in cooperation with the China Merchants Group, the largest Chinese group in the field of port management and operation.
This is the second cooperation of its kind that brings together the Sultanate’s largest sovereign fund with the Chinese company, after they announced a strategic partnership in the Tanzanian port of Bogomoyo last year.
The Omani newspaper quoted Abdulsalam Al-Murshidi, CEO of the fund, that the investment in the Kumport port is one of the Sultanate’s most successful investments in Turkey.
Al-Murshidi said that the fund achieved good returns from the port over the past years, noting that the new cooperation would give the port an added value and double its operations because it will put it on the map of the Chinese Silk Road.
The port, located on the Sea of Marmara on the European side of the Turkish city of Istanbul, is one of the fastest growing ports in terms of revenue and operations, due to its strategic location, which is 35 km from the Bosphorus Strait.
The port of Kumport is the only outlet for the regions located on the Black Sea, and it consists of 6 berths with a length of 2,180 meters.
The port’s capacity is 1.8 million TEUs and is expected to rise to 3.5 million TEUs in the future.
