Muscat – The Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Investment Promotion (MoCIIP) has cancelled more than 42,000 inactive and expired commercial registrations (CRs) in what officials described as the largest regulatory clean-up of the country’s Commercial Register since its creation. The move is part of a multi-stage effort by MoCIIP to improve market transparency and enhance reliability of economic indicators used by government agencies. Nasra bint Sultan al Habsi, Director General of Commerce at the ministry, said the process followed a detailed review to confirm the expired licences had no outstanding obligations with the Tax Authority, the Ministry of Labour or Royal Oman Police. Lists of CRs slated for cancellation were published for 30 days as required by law. The first phase targeted 3,410 CRs dating from 1970 to 1999, while the second phase removed 35,000 registrations issued between 2000 and 2020. A third batch covered 1,116 CRs, followed by a fourth phase that cancelled 2,638 CRs issued between March and November 2025. Nasra said the clean-up addressed long-standing legal inconsistencies. Dormant CRs, she noted, had inflated figures on private-sector size, SME activity and labour market data. Implementing Article 14 of the executive regulations also helped ensure suspended or non-compliant CRs were no longer reflected in official databases. The removal of outdated entries improved the performance of digital systems linked to the Commercial Register and Oman Business Platform by eliminating duplications and obsolete data. She added that this would reduce administrative strain on inspection teams and limit the misuse of inactive records in unauthorised activities. Nasra said the cancellations also allowed former licence holders to close files that no longer represented real operations, preventing the build-up of fines and clearing the way for new registrations. “The move helped update employer lists at the Ministry of Labour by removing non-existent establishments, improving the accuracy of Omanisation figures and other labour indicators.” She said the overhaul is part of a wider regulatory reform effort aimed at restoring order to the commercial sector and resolving issues that accumulated over several decades.
