Construction Middle East: Arabian Civil Engineers by GineersNow GineersNow Engineering Magazine Issue No. 014, Sau | Page 61

SOHAR Innovation Zone is central to this effort. The Port
and Freezone wants to operate the Innovation Zone as an
ideas factory. Working in close cooperation with the Port of
Rotterdam, it will try to find innovative ways to solve
tomorrow’s logistical problems. “Together with private
sector companies, international research institutes and
some of the world’s top universities, we are seeking
solutions across a broad range of issues that affect our
shipping, logistics and industrial hub at SOHAR Port and
Freezone,” says Geilenkirchen. “From innovative ways to
track containers and their loads moving between our Port
and Freezone; through the use of 3D metal printing to
create high quality industrial parts onsite; to the world’s
first self-sustaining Freezone logistics cluster, at SOHAR
we firmly believe that everything is possible.” SOHAR
Innovation Zone will particularly focus on sustainability, and
will operate as the world’s first self-sustaining Freezone
cluster. It will not be connected to the national power grid,
instead getting all its electricity needs from renewable
sources, while all waste will be recycled. The Innovation
Zone is not a hypothetical, futuristic concept, however. It
will use proven and trustworthy techniques brought
together in one integrated system for the first time, to
demonstrate the full potential of Oman’s technology sector.
The original plans for SOHAR Freezone foresaw an
industrial complex of 4,500 hectares adjacent to SOHAR
Port and the first-phase development of 500 hectares is
now practically leased out while, in many cases, the
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Construction Leaders • April 2017
industries are already fully operational. The technical teams
at SOHAR are now busily planning the zone’s expansion
into phase-two. Mark Geilenkirchen continued: “As both
the Port and Freezone continue to grow, we are looking at
new ways to further enhance the already excellent
connectivity between the two areas. In the near future,
there are likely to be a number of new options available for
the transportation of incoming feedstock from the Port to
the Freezone as well as outgoing finished products from
the Freezone to the Port. We are also looking to open a
fully bonded road corridor soon, to optimise trade and
facilitate the swift movement of goods, avoiding
unnecessary customs paperwork for our tenants. For
instance, as the Food Zone takes off in the Port we are
expecting a rapid influx of regional and international food
companies to set-up downstream food processing and
food logistics businesses in the Freezone, and we want to
facilitate the ease of doing business for them, as well as for
all our other businesses.
All of these efforts are helping to increase efficiency,
making the port smarter through innovation. Mark
Geilenkirchen summed up the sentiment as the Omani hub
settles down to another year of continued growth: “In
SOHAR we always say ’It all starts here’ and that has never
been more true than now: this promises to be our most
exciting year ever.”