OPAZ won 3D Printing Award at COMEX 2023 Awards

Muscat - May 27, 2023

The Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (OPAZ) won the 3D Printing Award at COMEX Technology Show Awards 2023. This Award was received for using the 3D printing technology to build a commercial cafe with its facilities, and a residential unit with its facilities in the fishermen's village in the Tourist Zone in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm (SEZAD).

Winning the 3D Printing Award marks an acknowledgment for OPAZ excellence in providing pioneering digital services in the investment sector and serving investors. Likewise, it is a tribute to its tremendous efforts towards digital transformation through introducing various electronic programmes and online applications, as well as adopting artificial intelligence technologies. All these tools have been presented to simplify procedures and provide fast, safe and comprehensive services to investors.

Therefore, OPAZ is working on a strategic digital transformation plan that reflects its constant interest in innovation, development, and the use of modern technologies to improve the experience of investors and beneficiaries of the services it provides. In addition, OPAZ always strives to follow best practices to improve its services, and thrive the special economic and free zones, and industrial cities, which it supervises.

The Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (OPAZ) won this award for using the 3D printing technology in building the café, which was built over an area of 101 sqm in about 35 hours only, while the residential unit was built over 72 sqm of land, with the construction process took only 12 hours. Such projects stand as a remarkable milestone in the world of construction compared to the the traditional construction method. Further, the 3D printing technology is distinguished by the standard construction speediness as construction does not requires using concrete bases and columns when building the structure. Instead, the 3D printing technology is based on converting the concrete material of this technology into an integrated structure using an automatic printer.

It is worth noting that the Public Authority for Special Economic Zones and Free Zones (OPAZ) has approved, since 2021, using the 3D printing technology in construction. This comes as part of OPAZ efforts to support innovation, research and development in the fields of construction using modern technologies, encourage and localise these technologies in construction and accelerate the pace of construction in economic and free zones and industrial cities supervised by OPAZ.