Oman's Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (OPAZ) issued Regulation No. 81/2026 on September 20, 2026, the executive regulations completing the Special Economic Zones and Free Zones Law promulgated by Royal Decree 38/2025. The regulation turns the parent law, in force since April 14, 2025, into operative rules governing licensing, the One-Stop Shop, strategic projects, real-estate development and enforcement across the Duqm, Salalah, Sohar and Mazyunah zones.
The issuance closes a gap advisory firms had flagged as overdue: Dentons had targeted the executive regulation for April 2026, and EY and KPMG were tracking the file. For operators, re-exporters, customs brokers and zone investors, Regulation 81/2026 is now the instrument that defines how applications are filed, how licences issue, how strategic projects are classified and how non-compliance is penalised.
What does Regulation 81/2026 change for zone operators and investors?
The regulations consolidate the One-Stop Shop as the sole channel for every service a project needs: land and property allocation, licences, approvals, permits and certificates. OPAZ links the One-Stop Shop electronically to other government entities' systems, activates e-payment, and coordinates service agreements that fix scope, responsibilities, powers, timeframes and monitoring. Zone operators and Special Economic Zone managers receive the widest executive powers to complete investors' transactions inside the zones, within the approved legal framework, shortening referral and decision layers.
Automatic licensing is the most consequential procedural change. Licences can now issue automatically through the One-Stop Shop once automated verification confirms that data, documents and approved requirements are met, and licences renew automatically where the licensee's data is current and compliant. The regulations also fix clear timeframes for deciding applications, require reasons for rejection, and regulate grievances against adverse decisions. Operators should align their application data and document workflows with the One-Stop Shop's verification logic to benefit from automatic grants.
Who qualifies as a strategic project, and what flexibility does it unlock?
A project is classified as strategic, and becomes eligible for a single approval plus additional incentives, where its investment cost is no less than OMR 10 million and it meets at least one qualitative criterion: transfer of knowledge and modern technologies, enhancement of local content, support for self-sufficiency and food and pharmaceutical security, or development of exports. The single approval replaces layered permit cycles for qualifying projects, and OPAZ may grant further benefits, incentives and facilitations after the prescribed approvals.
Investors targeting the strategic track should prepare evidence of the OMR 10 million outlay and of the qualifying economic-impact criterion, since both conditions are cumulative. The regulations link investment benefits, including tax-exempt special-nature activities, to demonstrated economic impact, and route applications for those benefits through the One-Stop Shop.
What must real-estate developers do on escrow and freehold?
The regulations license real-estate development projects in the zones, regulate off-plan sales and freehold ownership of units by non-Omanis, and impose escrow-account controls. Before any unit is marketed or advertised for sale, developers must meet prescribed financial and technical requirements, and escrow disbursements are restricted to their intended purposes to protect buyers' funds. The rules also regulate residence for non-Omani investors and unit owners, plus their spouses and first-degree relatives, under applicable controls.
Developers running freehold or off-plan projects in Duqm, Salalah or Sohar should map their escrow structures and pre-sale technical approvals against the new requirements now, because marketing a project before the conditions are met is the compliance exposure the regulations target.
What compliance, inspection and penalty obligations apply?
Regulation 81/2026 defines the obligations of projects and operators and regulates follow-up, inspection and administrative penalties. OPAZ frames the relationship as compliance-based: it prioritises remedying violations and allowing projects to continue lawfully where rectification is possible, rather than defaulting to disruption. Operators should still treat the inspection and penalty provisions as enforceable, because the regulations formalise OPAZ's supervisory powers alongside the simplified licensing track.
| Obligation area | What Regulation 81/2026 requires |
|---|---|
| Licensing | Applications via the One-Stop Shop; automatic grant on verified compliance; fixed decision timeframes; reasoned rejections with grievance rights |
| Strategic projects | Investment cost of OMR 10 million minimum, plus one economic-impact criterion; single approval; additional incentives available |
| Real estate | Escrow accounts mandatory; financial and technical requirements before marketing; off-plan and non-Omani freehold regulated |
| Oversight | Defined operator obligations; follow-up and inspection; administrative penalties; remedy-first enforcement |
Continuous, per-jurisdiction real-time monitoring surfaces an implementing regulation like this the moment OPAZ publishes it, before downstream guides and forms land.
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Compliance leads should now confirm which of their entities fall under OPAZ's zones, verify that application data meets the One-Stop Shop's automatic-verification requirements, assess strategic-project eligibility against the OMR 10 million threshold, and brief real-estate and licensing teams on the escrow and inspection obligations. OPAZ is preparing further implementing decisions, guides and forms, so tracking those follow-on instruments is the next step.
