Sultan of Oman heads to Downing Street as UK unveils £1bn-plus investment deal

Sultan Haitham bin Tariq of Oman is holding talks with Prime Minister Andy Burnham at Downing Street on Wednesday, as the two countries announced more than £1bn in new investment on the second day of the first state visit by an Omani sultan in 44 years.

An agreement accelerating two-way investment, building on the UK-Oman Sovereign Investment Partnership, is expected to be signed during the Downing Street meeting, covering renewable energy, technology, critical minerals, space, healthcare and financial services.

UK Export Finance will raise its financing capacity to up to £7bn for UK exports to Oman, while UK-founded firm Yamna is set to sign an agreement with Oman to build a large-scale AI data centre in Salalah. The first phase is expected to exceed £1bn and create more than 100 highly skilled UK jobs.

“I’m delighted to welcome His Majesty The Sultan to the UK - the UK and Oman have built a friendship which generates real benefits for people at home,” Burnham said. “Economic growth, security, defence, education: these are just some of the priorities we share as we plot a course through an increasingly complex world.”

The talks follow a state banquet at Windsor Castle on Tuesday, where King Charles III praised Oman’s “noble efforts” to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz and its “constructive neutrality” amid the US-Iran war. The last Omani state visit to the UK was in 1982, when Queen Elizabeth II hosted Sultan Qaboos bin Said.