Duqm

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Duqm
الدقم
Duqm
Duqm
Location in Oman
Coordinates: 19°39′42″N 57°42′17″E / 19.66167°N 57.70472°E / 19.66167; 57.70472
Country  Oman
Region Al Wusta Region (Oman)
Wilayat Duqm

Duqm (Arabic: الدقم‎) is a port town on the Arabian Sea, in central-eastern Oman. The town is currently experiencing significant development, growing from about 5100 in 2008 to over 11,200 people in 2010,[1] and the Oman Tourism Development Company is looking to develop it into a resort, aiming to increase its population to 100,000 by 2020.

History and economy

Duqm was a small fishing settlement of the Janubah tribe on the coast of southern Oman,[1] when a party of soldiers of the Muscat and Oman Field Force and geologists of Petroleum Development Oman landed in February 1954 to begin the modern oil exploration of central Oman.[2][3]

Today it is an industrial oil town with a notable port, and the town has been looking to increase tourism in the area with the Oman Tourism Development Company, and is now central to the state's development goals, with a 25-year plan formulated in 1995 to increase its population to 100,000 by 2020.[4] The port has undergone development and a shipbuilding facility to facilitate the port was built; development has been ongoing by the Jan De Nul Group, improving the breakwaters and quay walls.[5] In March 2005, Oman's Ministry of Transport and Communications awarded the Parsons Corporation a contract to study and design a new Duqm Jaaluni Airport in hopes of increasing tourism. The airport is expected to be operational by 2014.[6] In 2008, Intercontinental Hotels announced they were to build a 213-room hotel - Crowne Plaza Duqm.[7] A coal-fired power plant has also been approved in Duqm with the aim of reducing dependency on natural gas, and Oman has formed a $2 billion deal with the South Koreans to facilitate it.[8][9]

According to The Economist, "If Duqm took off, sleepy Oman might—say the planners—challenge nearby Dubai’s dominance as the region’s trading hub" with a geographically favourable location that links to Asia, Europe and Arabia, that also avoids the tensions of the nearby Persian Gulf.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Report. Oxford Business Group. p. 278. ISBN 978-1-907065-72-9. 
  2. ↑ The Journal of Oman Studies. Ministry of National Heritage and Culture, Sultanate of Oman. 1983. pp. 152–7. 
  3. ↑ Morton, Michael Quentin (May 2006. 1st edition), In the Heart of the Desert (In the Heart of the Desert ed.), Aylesford, Kent, United Kingdom: Green Mountain Press (UK), ISBN 978-0-9552212-0-0, 095522120X 
  4. ↑ The Report: Oman 2012. Oxford Business Group. 2012. p. 159. ISBN 978-1-907065-49-1. 
  5. ↑ PIANC Yearbook 2011. PIANC. p. 295. ISBN 978-2-87223-194-2. 
  6. ↑ "Description of Duqm Jaaluni Airport". Oman Airports Management Company. 
  7. ↑ "Description of Crowne Plaza Duqm". Crowne Plaza Hotels. 
  8. ↑ International Energy Outlook, 2010. U.S. Energy Information Administration, Government Printing Office. 24 August 2010. p. 94. ISBN 978-0-16-088158-9. 
  9. ↑ Minerals Yearbook, 2008, V. 3, Area Reports, International, Africa and the Middle East. Government Printing Office. 24 October 2010. p. 52. ISBN 978-1-4113-2965-2. 
  10. ↑ "Oman’s new port: Sleepy no more". The Economist. Retrieved 22 November 2013. 

Coordinates: 19°39′42″N 57°42′17″E / 19.66167°N 57.70472°E / 19.66167; 57.70472

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