PM to lay foundation stone for Porto Dead Sea project

AMMAN –– Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour and a number of government officials are scheduled to attend a ceremony on Monday to lay the foundation stone for Porto Dead Sea, one of the biggest real estate development projects in the region. 

Egyptian developing company Amer Group says the $250 million venture on the eastern shores of the Dead Sea will be built on an area of 800,000 square metres. 

It will be the first city built on the Dead Sea mountains, as it will consist of four five-star hotels, an international health and spa centre, three malls, medical centres and 11,000 serviced apartments, according to details about the project posted on the website of Amer Group. 

The Egyptian firm, one of the largest real estate developers in the Middle East, expects the project to help increase hotel capacity in Jordan by 25 per cent.

The Porto is also expected to increase the number of local and foreign visitors to the Dead Sea by around half-a-million.

According to developers, the city will include four lakes, a dancing fountain, an amusement park, four swimming pools for women, 15 international restaurants and cafés, a cinema complex and 20 other swimming pools.

In February last year, the Cabinet approved the project, which is expected to provide around 3,000 job opportunities.