PM attends signing ceremony for new Aqaba industrial estate

AMMAN — Prime Minister Hani Mulki on Sunday attended the signing ceremony of an agreement to establish a new industrial estate in Aqaba's Queira District on 1.2 million sqm, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The estate will be a joint project between Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC) and the Chinese Shenzhen Chamber of Investment.

The project will be completed on a four-phase basis, comprising 300,000 sqm in each phase.

The project will facilitate opportunities for sale or lease of long-term contracts for industrial storage, logistic services and light industries.

As for the strategic goals for 2025 that were announced during the session on Aqaba development on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, they include attracting new investments worth $10 billion, increasing the number of hotel rooms from 4600 to 12,000, and the number of tourists to 1.5 million by 2025.

Regarding seaports, the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority is seeking to increase the number of containers handled at the Aqaba port from 875,000 to 1.9 million by 2025, in addition to attracting more investment to improve services at the port.

Mulki also attended a signing ceremony between ADC and Manaseer Group to establish a facility manufacturing fertilisers, various chemicals and gypsum.

The complex will be built on a plot of 900,000 sq.m. in south Aqaba and will comprise 11 factories that will use raw material from the Jordan Phosphate Mines and the Arab Potash Company.  

Also on Sunday the premier inaugurated an exhibition organised by investors.