Trip to Oman

I was looking thru all my albums on Facebook and I noticed that I have been to quite a few places since I have been in the Middle East.

One of those memorable place was Musandam in Oman. Oman is one of the neighbouring countries to UAE. From Abu Dhabi one can access Oman thru 2 places, from Al Ain or Ras Al Khaimah (RAK). By car Al Ain is 40 minutes from Abu Dhabi and 4 hours to RAK.

So with 3 other girlfriends, we rented a car and left for RAK on Thursday night . Got there about midnight. Woke up at 6 am, left for thr Oman border which was 45 minutes away from RAK city. Another 45 minutes away from the border to Musadam. The drive from the border was beautiful. The sun was just rising on the horizon of the sea, the high rocky mountains of Oman. Simply beautiful.

We took the full day trip on the Dhow. A dhow is a traditional wooden boat which has been a round for many many years. This particular dhow was very nice and comfortable with indoor plumbing as well. There was a huge carpet on the floor of the dhow and plush cushions was placed on the perimeter of the dhow. Food and drinks was included in the package along with a guided tour of the islands, snokeling and dolphin watching.

We had fun the whole day and by the time we got back to RAK we were so tired but it was fun and relaxing weekend with the girls.

Malaysian Delegation visits the Hilton Abu Dhabi

8th May 2010

Today I saw the Ex-Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. What struck me about the man is that he is short. I was thought he was a tall man. Its interesting to know that television adds not only pounds but height as well to a person.

Anyways, I was looking after the delegation, so it was nice to meet him. He seems pleasant enough. They are here as part of the East Coast Economic Development Region Council. Its for the corridor in Pahang and Terrengganu.

The ECERDC is here embark on an investment mission to the Middle East from May 7 to 17 to attract investors from the Gulf region to the East Coast Economic Region (ECER), as well as to enhance bilateral business relationship between Malaysia and the Middle East countries.

It will be participated by officials from ECERDC, ECER State Governments and Halal Development Corporation, and is undertaken via collaboration with Malaysian Industrial Development Authority (MIDA) and the Malaysian embassies in UAE and Saudi Arabia.

ECERDC aims to attract RM30 billion worth of investments in the region under the 10th Malaysia Plan.

In this regard, the region offers attractive fiscal and non-fiscal incentives that are specially tailored to investors who are venturing into the respective ECER clusters namely Tourism, Oil, Gas & Petrochemical, Manufacturing, Agriculture and Education.

Two core incentives that apply to all projects are income tax exemption and investment tax allowance (ITA). Customised incentives are also available, based on merit for each case.
Investors in ECER may also enjoy attractive non-fiscal incentives offered. They include premium land prices, flexibility in employment of expatriates, preferential tariffs for utilities, the granting of ECER status to eligible companies and provision of grants to viable projects, among others.


They are leaving tomorrow night to Saudi.