Commercial activities have now been started at Oman's Duqm Port, giving it a major boost in achieving its full potential in the coming years. The port in Wusta Governorate has been designed to receive millions of containers and handle general, bulk and liquid cargo, reports the Oman News Agency.

The GCC countries are allocating $36bn to further develop their port infrastructure amid increasing foreign non-oil trade volumes. Saudi Arabia is powering ahead with port infrastructure development with more than $750m allocated to Dammam's King Abdul Aziz Port, which includes the launch of a second high-tech container terminal in 2015 with capacity for 1.8 million TEUs per annum.