State-owned Oman Investment Authority has signed a $150 million agreement with a Brazilian company to set up a poultry and red meat production business in a move that is aimed to help accelerate the sultanate’s food security plans.
Brazil’s JBS will partner with the Omani sovereign wealth fund to build two processing units – one in the town of Thurmrait, located in the southern region of Dhofar, and the second one in Ibri in central Oman.
“This venture aligns with the national strategy for Oman to be self-sufficient in food production in a bid to reduce the import bill,” OIA said in a statement to AGBI.
The latest deal follows a food security agreement the government signed with local farmers last year.
Oman’s food imports rose 7 percent year on year to $8.2 billion in 2025, with the sector making up about 30 percent of all imports, according to the ministry of agriculture and fisheries.
This is Oman’s latest step to boost its food security investments.
Last year, the sultanate signed a deal with Japan’s International Cooperation Agency to build and develop a series of farms in the southern region of Dhofar.
Oman’s Salalah Mills Company, listed on the Muscat Securities Market, imports 110,000 tonnes of wheat from Russia a year.
The Gulf country is building a $4.2 billion agricultural city in Saham, a town in the northern province of Batinah. The farms will be distributed to 30,000 farmers living in the area once completed in the third quarter of this year.
Oman has set aside $13 billion for food security investments between 2020-2040 in projects ranging from building up stocks and cultivating arid land to financing local farmers and fishermen.

