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Bondoni Frontline January 2025 – Hello 2025!– Constant Change is here to Stay

Bondoni Frontline January 2025 Hello 2025!– Constant Change is here to Stay

Important – Hello 2025 – Constant Change is here to Stay!
I am sure you are recovering from a fun festive season. A warm welcome to 2025. It goes without saying that 2024 was a challenging year for all companies due to the uncertainty we encountered with the constant changes that faced us. Although I am more optimistic, I anticipate the same in 2025! Fortunately, as you know, the Bondoni team is constantly on the “Frontline” so we are able to respond and communicate any changes faster than most companies can. In order to remain as streamlined as possible I am using this email to update you with any regulations that may affect you and will make recommendations on how we can stay ahead of the game in 2025.

Oman’s 2025 Outlook

The highlight of 2024 was  Oman’s game-changing  fiscal credit rating achievement of being  upgraded to investor  grade status BB+ with a positive outlook (Fitch)  compared to a BB- with a negative outlook in March 2020.

Aligned with the 2024 vision, this is a major milestone to attract serious investors to Oman.

We now look forward to the government seriously focusing on the more practical , day to day aspects to achieve Vison 2040 by enabling us to grow our businesses in a more certain investor and trading environment.

Looking ahead - 2025 Challenges

Omanised Professions – Prohibited Professions for Expatriates from September 2024 

The Ministry of Labour (MOL) is implementing this new regulation, and it has already affected a number of our clients so please plan ahead and call Salim and his team regarding the options that are available:

Option One:

Recruit an Omani in the same category ( skilled/semi-skilled/unskilled) and MOL will suggest an alternative job description without the employee ( and family) needing to leave the country.

Option Two:

The employee leaves the country and re-enters on a new visa. Please note that this will only be possible to obtain a new visa clearance if  your company’s Omanisation percentage is accepted by MOL. We will guide you on this and an alternative job title.

Option three:

The employee will leave the country once his/her visa expires, and you recruit an Omani in the job role.

For more information, please read Bodoni’s blog ( September 11th):

Mandatory to employ one Omani citizen within 12 months of establishment.

This is to confirm that all  companies that have been established for 12 months or more must employ at least one Omani citizen. Please take this seriously as a number of companies have been given a 60-day warning ( by MOL and/or MOCIIP)  or their CRs were blocked without warning!

If this affects you, please contact Salim or me and we will guide you on various options.

As I write this there are still no formal regulations or escalation procedures, but we are expecting to hear shortly.

For more information, please read the following Blog from our website that was published in May 2024:

VAT payments

As you know, the VAT payments  are paid quarterly  to the Oman Tax Authority (OTA), and you are given up to 30 days to pay.

For those clients that use Bondoni’s  VAT representative services, may I request the following:

  • To pay at least one week before the deadline ( in case of complications and to avoid unnecessary fines)
  • As our working week is Sunday to Thursday, could you please pay them in our working week, (avoiding Friday and Saturday.) This would be highly appreciated!
Medical reports for new and renewed visas

The Ministry of Health has informed us that Medical reports for obtaining new or renewed ID cards will now take up to 5 working days to process ( it was one day!).So please calculate this extra time to obtain new visas or renewing visas for your employees.

New Bondoni Team announcements

 It is my pleasure to announce two new arrivals to further strengthen our legal and client services management demands:

Legal Services Manager ( and inhouse lawyer) – Shahad al Raisi

Shahad is a qualified Omani  Commercial lawyer. She further strengthens our services for international clients who are setting up in Oman for the first time or for established companies who require changes to the corporate structuring. Specific services include:

  • Corporate structuring and Company registration  for international companies setting up in Oman for the first time including advising on activities Trade licenses), authorised signatories.
  • Activities selection
  • Share transfers
  • CR document amendments ( changes of activities/authorised signatories/shareholders etc.

Client Services Manager (CSM)

 Our newly appointed CSM joins us on the 2 Feb!

As we increase the number of our retained clients at the same time as the Oman bureaucracy continues to change, its essential for us to continue delivering and communicating to all of you on a consistent basis.

Future team announcements

We will certainly be employing additional Authorised Administrative Managers and senior PROs to match our growth as we are sensitive to  avoiding “over-stretch” .

Digitally Transformed!

One of our key 2024 objectives was to digitally transform our CRM system which we have successfully accomplished. We now operate on a customized digital platform which aligns all our functions including marketing, financial, operations and most importantly our client document management system.

I hope you have found this update useful and as you all know – “Our solution minded team are always available to “Advise and Deliver!”

 

Best of luck in 2025