PM lays foundation stone for Porto Dead Sea

DEAD SEA –– An Egyptian investor has picked a mountainside overlooking the Dead Sea as the site for one of the largest tourism and entertainment projects in the region.

On Monday, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour laid the foundation stone for the JD800 million Porto Dead Sea, which will be developed by the Cairo-based Amer Group. 

Several government officials, lawmakers and businesspeople, as well as representatives of local and regional media outlets, attended the ceremony. 

Mansour Amer, chairman of the group, said Porto Dead Sea will offer around 8,000 permanent jobs and attract regional and international investments. 

The mega scheme, to be built on an 800,000-square-metre area, is expected to raise hotel capacity in Jordan by 25 per cent and increase the number of local and foreign visitors to the Dead Sea by around half-a-million a year, according to the Amer group. 

Set to be ready by 2019, the first phase of the city is scheduled for completion in 2016, Amer said. 

“We will be offering a unique project for Jordan.” 

In his address at the ceremony, Ensour noted that he met the Egyptian investor a year ago and was convinced of the credibility of the company, which he said has always delivered its projects.

The premier indicated that the land designated for the complex will not be transferred to the company until the project is ready. 

“If the project succeeds the ownership of the land will be transferred to the company, and if it defaults the firm will be losing millions of dinars,” the prime minister said, adding that the investment would encourage further joint ventures between Jordan and Egypt. 

According to the developers, the project will include four five-star hotels, 20 global restaurants and cafés, mega malls, international health and spa centres, medical facilities, and an amusement park. 

It will also feature an equestrian and shooting club, various sport courts, 20 swimming pools — four of which are women-only — in addition to four lakes, a dancing fountain and the first cinema complex in the Dead Sea area. 

Amer said Porto Dead Sea will also introduce the group’s highly acclaimed Papa Porto international carnivals to Jordan, offering family entertainment throughout the year.      

The Dead Sea project is one of several large-scale tourist and residential Porto destinations owned and run by the Amer Group in the region. The group’s portfolio includes Porto Marina, Porto El Sokhna, Porto New Cairo, Porto Matrouh, Porto Sharm and Porto 6 October in Egypt, in addition to Porto
Tartous-Syria, and Porto Agadir-Morocco. 

During Monday’s event, the Amer Group signed a memorandum of understanding with the Education Ministry to establish a vocational training centre in Sweimeh, a village neighbouring the project site, to provide training to residents who wish to work in the hospitality sector.