King visits King Hussein Business Park, tours several institutions

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Monday was briefed on the second phase of the King Hussein Business Park’s (KHBP) expansion plan, extending over 309 dunums at an estimated cost of JD5 million, to stimulate economic growth, attract investments, and create jobs.

The second phase of the project offers investment opportunities to develop facilities, roads, parking lots, and green spaces, and will witness the establishment of several facilities, including ones for information storage, medical simulation, and a hotel over an area of 9,000 square metres.

 During a visit to the KHBP, attended by HRH Crown Prince Hussein, His Majesty listened to a briefing by KHBP Chairman Osama Madanat on means of implementing the park’s strategy, seeking to enhance the business environment, attract regional and international investments, support start-ups, and hone the skills of young Jordanians, according to a Royal Court statement. 

The King stressed the importance of enhancing Jordan's ability to benefit from economic opportunities by further developing a competitive business environment with distinctive infrastructure and services, capable of attracting more quality investments, the statement said. 

His Majesty called for building on the lessons learned from developing the KHBP’s first phase to accelerate future phases, highlighting the importance of coordinating with the private sector and investors to understand their needs and address challenges. 

The investment volume of the KHBP’s first phase reached JD210 million, with a 99 per cent occupancy rate, extending over a land of 200 dunums, including 36 facilities, according to the statement. 

The park currently includes 295 start-ups, 65 local companies, 14 regional companies, and 19 international companies operating in various sectors and employing about 7,000 people. 

His Majesty’s visit to the park also included a stop at the King Abdullah Fund for Development (KAFD), where he was briefed by the fund's director general, Mazen Tabbalat, on key achievements and development programmes and projects.

Since the fund’s establishment in 2001, it has provided some 3 million direct and indirect employment, training, and qualification opportunities.

During the meeting, attended by the fund’s chairman and members of the Board of Trustees, His Majesty commended KAFD’s efforts throughout the years, stressing the need to ensure projects’ sustainability and secure new funding opportunities through philanthropy and corporate social responsibility, the statement said.  

In addition, the King noted the importance of studying the impact of KAFD’s programmes, in line with the political, economic, and administrative modernisation tracks.

His Majesty was briefed on success stories of young beneficiaries.

Stopping at SITA, an international company specialised in delivering IT solutions for the air transport industry, the King was briefed on the company’s work in Jordan and its plans to expand operations.

SITA’s offices in Jordan are among its largest in the region, as it provides support to a wide network of airports and airlines, functioning as a regional operations hub for air transport, and employs 150 people, according to the statement. 

His Majesty concluded his visit to the business park at the Electronic Health Solutions (EHS) company, where the National Health Insurance Claims System (Hakeem claim) was launched, aimed at enhancing the digitisation of healthcare and improving medical services through a unified electronic record.

EHS CEO Omar Ayesh gave a briefing, attended by Health Minister Feras Hawari, on efforts to improve healthcare services for Jordanians, including “Hakeem” programme and the company’s achievements over the past 15 years.

The EHS is currently working on completing the digitisation of all Health Ministry and Royal Medical Services hospitals by the end of 2024, in addition to introducing technologies such as artificial intelligence, he added.

Royal Hashemite Court Chief Yousef Issawi and Director of the Office of His Majesty Jafar Hassan accompanied the King on the tour.