Under Arts. 20–22 of the Telecommunications Regulatory Act (Royal Decree No. 30/2002), any person wishing to establish or operate a telecommunications system or provide telecommunications services must obtain a licence from the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority. Basic public telecommunications services require a Class I licence granted by Royal Decree, additional public telecommunications services require a Class II licence, and private telecommunications services require a Class III licence.
Pursuant to Art. 21 of the Act, the Authority may limit the number of telecommunications or radio licences issued for a specific class of telecommunications systems or services in order to: (i) ensure the efficient management and use of the frequency spectrum; (ii) specify a particular period to ensure that a sufficient stock of telecommunications numbers is available for use under the Numbering Plan; and (iii) meet public interest requirements.

Oman has appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

It is reported that the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA), the executive authority for the supervision and administration of services in the telecommunications sector, is independent from the government in the decision-making process.

Art. 6 of the Foreign Capital Investment Law stipulates that all permits required for foreign investments in Oman should be approved through the Investments Services Centre of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.

In accordance with Art. 95 of the Law on Industrial Property Rights, where an applicant’s ordinary residence or principal place of business is located outside Oman, the applicant must be represented by an attorney who is resident and practising in Oman. This attorney must hold a licence to practise intellectual property activity and be empowered to take any decisions in accordance with the provisions of the Law.
Furthermore, under Art. 5 of Regulation No. 105/2008, an applicant residing abroad may appoint an attorney resident and practising in the Sultanate, provided that: (a) the attorney supplies the department with a copy of their licence to practise intellectual property activity; and (b) registers their name with the department using Form No. (1) after payment of the prescribed fees.

Oman is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT). However, the country does not consider itself bound by Art. 59 related to disputes.

Oman has a copyright regime under the Royal Decree No. 65/2008 on Law on Copyright and Neighbouring Rights. However, the exceptions do not follow the fair use or fair dealing model, therefore limiting the lawful use of copyrighted work by others. Art. 20 lists the exceptions, which include quoting paragraphs from a protected work lawfully made available to the public in another work for clarification, explanation, or criticism purposes, to the extent of the desired purpose and as much as justified by such goal; the use of the work in meetings within the family or through an educational institution for clarification during face-to-face educational or teaching purposes, within limits justified by such goal, provided that this would be done with no direct or indirect compensation; among others.

Although Oman’s intellectual property legislation is generally robust, it is reported that limited enforcement capacity places a significant burden on rights holders, who must themselves undertake monitoring and pursue enforcement primarily through court proceedings.

Oman is a signatory of the World Trade Organization (WTO) Information Technology Agreement (ITA) of 1996 but is not a signatory of its 2015 expansion (ITA II).

In August 2024, following publication in the GCC Technical Secretariat’s Official Gazette (Vol. 47, 20 August 2024), the GCC Member States, included Oman, imposed definitive anti-dumping duties for five years on imports of electrical connectors, switches, sockets and plugs for a voltage not exceeding 1,000 volts (HS 853669, 853650, 85444291, 85444221) originating in or exported from the People’s Republic of China; the duty rates range from 11.3% to 42% by exporter.

Art. 16 of the Tender Law provides that public tenders in Oman may be conducted as either local or international tenders. However, foreign companies lacking an Omani representative are restricted from participating in local tenders. As per Art. 23, international companies and institutions not yet registered in Oman are eligible to participate in international tenders, on the condition that they complete registration in accordance with the relevant regulations within thirty working days following notification of bid acceptance.
It is reported that many international companies opt to form agency agreements with local companies, allowing the local agent to represent them in the tendering process

Art. 47 of the Tender Law states that the State can use limited contracts in cases the nature of the contract requires restricting the participation in the tender to specific suppliers, contractors, or consultants within or outside the Sultanate who satisfy the required conditions.

Art. 36 of the Tender Law provides that local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) may benefit from a bidding preference in government tenders within a price margin of up to 10%. It is reported that, for most major tenders, Oman invites bids from international firms or from firms pre-selected by project consultants, but that in recent years the authorities have shown a preference for awarding contracts to local community contractors and Omani SMEs. Some companies also report delays in award decisions, in some cases extending over several years, as well as instances in which tenders are reopened with modified specifications and short deadlines.

Oman applies an In-Country Value (ICV) policy in government procurement. It is reported that both Omani and foreign companies are required to allocate at least 10% of the contract value to local procurement of goods and services and to the training of Omani nationals, and that bidders’ ICV commitments are taken into account in tender award decisions. However, the underlying legal instrument establishing this ICV policy has not been found online.
Decision No. 174/2023 issuing the Regulation Governing Local Content further operationalises these requirements. Under Art. 4 of the Decision, the Directorate must set local content obligations for contracts exceeding OMR 3,000,000 (approx. USD 7.8 million) and may review local content requirements prepared by relevant authorities for contracts valued between OMR 500,000 (approx. USD 1.3 million) and OMR 3,000,000 (approx. USD 7.8 million), depending on the nature of the contract. Pursuant to Art. 5, such requirements must, in light of each project’s characteristics, address (i) the development of national human resources and the creation of job opportunities, and (ii) the local sourcing of products, based on value chain and supply chain analysis, in order to support existing local products and develop small and medium-sized enterprises. In all cases, local content requirements must be prepared in accordance with the procedures and controls established by the General Secretariat.

Oman is not a party to the World Trade Organization (WTO) Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA). However, the country has been an observer of the WTO GPA since 2001.