The company has undertaken a rigorous master-planning phase to develop Oman's largest mixed-used urban development that is set to become a leader of smart and sustainable city technology and the benchmark for all future urban developments across the sultanate.

To highlight key aspects and latest developments of Madinat al Irfan's concept master plan Omran hosted an executive briefing bringing together senior representatives from the public and private sectors.

The executive briefing is one in a series of ongoing public and private consultations hosted by Omran involving high-level stakeholders business community leaders and industry partners. The public and private consultations are being conducted by Omran ahead of the master plan unveiling scheduled for mid-2016.

The event was attended by H E Dr Omar bin Abdul Munim al Zawawi Special Advisor for External Liaison to His Majesty the Sultan H E Dr Mohammed al Zubair Advisor for Economic Planning Affairs to His Majesty the Sultan H E Dr Ali bin Masoud al Sunaidy Minister of Commerce and Industry and Omran's chairman senior government officials and senior members of the public and private sectors.

Set to become the largest mixed-use development in Oman the urban centre will be developed over three phases and will be geared to complement the predicted population growth and trend towards urbanisation in the greater Muscat region. The Government of Oman officially appointed Omran as the master developer for the project in 2014 and is currently in the process of transferring the land to Omran.

The briefing follows on from the inaugural stakeholder event in October last year. Since then Omran has met community leaders educational institutions and representatives from student bodies who were briefed on the new urban centre and had the opportunity to expand their understanding of the social impact of the Madinat al Irfan development while discussing common future goals for social and community growth.

Saif al Hinai executive director of the Madinat al Irfan project stated 'Meeting with stakeholders and presenting the vision of Madinat al Irfan is a critical part of our overall development philosophy one which fosters transparency and constructive dialogue between stakeholders investors specialists and community leaders. Through this collaboration we gain stakeholder support and generate greater levels of participation from our partners in the business community in order to achieve our goals.

'Over the course of these engagements we have been encouraged by the high levels of interest from private sector investors and partners to be involved in shaping the future of Madinat al Irfan a project which forms a cornerstone for the growing tourism and real-estate sectors in the sultanate.'

During the event government officials and senior members of the business and finance community were briefed on the key components of the master plan the first of which being the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre precinct.

The elements currently under construction as part of the first phase include a 22000sq m flexible column-free exhibition centre scheduled for completion in Q4 of this year.

The centre has been sub-divided into five halls large enough to fit two football pitches. The convention and exhibition centre will also include one of the largest state of-the-art auditoriums in the Middle East with an orchestra pit housing 3200 seats. The precinct will also include the five-star JW Marriott Hotel and a four-star Crowne Plaza Hotel that are currently under development and available for private equity shareholding.

Omran also announced seven plots available for investment. These plots will be fully serviced with key utilities including water electricity sewage treatment high-speed Internet etc available for hospitality residential commercial and leisure development.

Omran plans to designate the Madinat al Irfan Urban Centre as a special development zone to provide close assistance and support to local and international investors and enable the prompt issue of necessary permits.