Duqm Chinese investors in Oman on Wednesday laid the first stone of an industrial zone in the sultanate's southern port town of Duqm under a $10.7-billion (10-billion-euro) development plan. Chinese investors signed a deal last year to finance a series of industrial projects on the nearly 12 square-kilometre (5 -square-mile) site on the Indian ocean, 550 kilometres (340 miles) south of the capital Muscat. The first stage of the project is worth $3.2 billion (three billion euros) according to the project's sponsors. It will include a power plant, a drilling equipment factory and hotels. (reuters)