| King
receives Siemens team
His
Majesty King Abdullah II
received on 5/1/2003 a member of the Corporate Executive Committee of
Siemens AG Dr. Eng. h. c. Volker Jung and his accompanying delegation who
paid a visit to Jordan to look into investment opportunities in the
Kingdom especially in the fields of telecommunications, information
technology and energy.
Dr.
Jung's visit to Jordan came to complete talks that were held with German
businessmen and industrial figures during His Majesty King Abdullah's
State Visit to Germany last October. His Majesty affirmed Jordan's
determination to build a strong economy based on the principles of
partnership with the private sector, improving the investment climate and
liberalizing trade. The King welcomed the seriousness of the Siemens
Company and other German companies to invest in Jordan.
Dr.
Jung who also met with the Prime Minister Ali Abul Ragheb as well as
several ministers affirmed that the Jordanian economy is going in the
right direction to achieve sustainable development based on knowledge and
productivity. He praised His Majesty King Abdullah's keenness to expand
horizons of cooperation with Germany and Europe with a view to stimulate
major companies to invest in Jordan's vital sectors.
King
affirms Jordan's determination to continue economic and administrative
reforms
His Majesty King
Abdullah II affirmed Jordan's determination to continue the policy of
economic and administrative reforms that have been adopted over the past
years. In a keynote address to the "Investment Climate in
Jordan" Forum, held in Dubai on January 20th, 2003, the
King pointed out that the privatization process, which the government has
adopted, contributed in enhancing the ability of the national economy to
absorb private investment and attract foreign investments into the
Kingdom. "Our major goal is to concentrate on the future of
Jordanians, improve their standards of living and invest in their
education, habilitation and training," King Abdullah said, noting
that Jordan would invest $500 million to develop education over the next
five years. King Abdullah urged UAE and foreign investors to benefit from
export privileges provided by Jordan through the Free
Trade Agreement with the US, the Jordan-Euro
Association Agreement, the Greater Arab Free Trade Zone, the World
Trade Organization, the Qualified
Industrial Zones and the Aqaba
Special Economic Zone.
Queen Rania
to receive German Media Award
In recognition of
her efforts in encouraging tolerance and bridging cross-cultural divides, Her
Majesty Queen Rania Al-Abdullah will receive next month the
"German Media Award" making her the first female to receive the
prize in its 11-year history. Queen Rania will receive the award jointly
with Queen Sylvia of Sweden, who is being honored for her work with
children. A jury consisting of 25 chief editors of the most renowned
German media nominated Queen Rania for the prize.
His
Majesty the late King Hussein received the 1997 award for his dedication
and commitment to peace. Since 1992, the German Media Award has been
awarded to a multitude of important and renowned individuals. Past winners
include German Chancellor Helmut Kohl in 1992, French President François
Mitterand in 1994, South African President Nelson Mandela in 1998, US
President Clinton in 1999, German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder in 2000,
and New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani in 2001.
New
Jordanian Ambassador to Germany
H.E.
Dr. Saleh Rusheidat
has arrived to Berlin at the beginning of January 2003 to assume his
responsibilities as Jordan’s Ambassador to Germany. Dr. Rusheidat, who
has a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Leipzig University, has a political
as well as an economic professional background. He was Jordan’s Deputy
Prime Minister and Minister of Transportation from 2000 to 2001, Minister
of Tourism and Antiquities from 1996 to 1997 and Minister of Youth and
Sports from 1991 to 1993. Between 1997 and 2000 Dr. Rusheidat was Chairman
of the Board of the Arab Potash Company and Kemira Potash Co. in Amman.
Dr. Rusheidat is married and has three children.
Jordan,
Morocco, Egypt, and Tunisia sign free trade deal
Jordan,
Morocco, Egypt, and Tunisia have finalized a free trade zone that will
lower tariffs and decrease customs duties by 65% between the countries for
2003. Tariffs are to be removed completely by 2006. The four countries’
Trade ministers initialed the agreement on 11th January in
Amman. The agreement (dubbed “Agadir Agreement”) also calls for
facilitating trade liberalization with the European Union (EU) and the
creation of a trade zone General-Secretariat to be based in Amman, Jordan.
The agreement has to be completed with some technical annexes before it
can be signed. The four countries agreed to set up a free trade zone ahead
of the 2010 target for trade barriers to end in the Euro-Mediterranean
area.
ASEZ builds
competitiveness with CRM Technologies
As
part of its long-term plan to attract more than six billion dollars of
foreign direct investments into the Aqaba
Special Economic Zone (ASEZ), ASEZA has announced the rollout of
Jordan's first e-government, web-enabled investors support system using
ACCPAC technologies. The system, using ACCPAC eCRM, is what the authority
considers a “systematic and sustainable approach to attract foreign
direct investment”. The first phase of the development program of ASEZA
is based on providing an infrastructure, advanced enough to compete with
regional players and attract foreign capital into the Special Economic
Zone area.
Business
Scene
The Ministry of Transport is discussing plans to privatize the
Jordan Aircrafts Maintenance Co. The government owns the company at a
capital of $11.9 million. Besides Royal Jordanian, the company currently
provides maintenance services to other 12 Arab and international airlines.
The company made $12 million profits in 2001 and 2002. Minister of
Transport Nader Al Dhabi said the government is working with Jordanian
specialists on the coming phase, either to launch a public offering of
shares or find a strategic partner to buy the government’s shares.
Al Hussein Bin Abdullah II
Industrial Zone in Karak has investments worth $56.3 million, mostly
in textiles. The zone’s exports are expected to reach $ 84.5 million
this year. Al Hussein Zone was established in 2001 as part of the
Qualified Industrial Zones (QIZs) that represents an unprecedented
opportunity to access the US market duty and quota free for the goods that
are produced within the zone. There are currently eleven Zones located
throughout Jordan.
The Euro-Jordanian Action for the Development of Enterprise (EJADA)
inaugurated its office in Aqaba to enhance the private sector's abilities
and upgrade the performance of small and medium enterprises. The Aqaba
Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) Chief Commissioner Akel E. Biltaji
said the office would be supervising projects in the duty free zone that
have obtained 10 million Euros in grants under the two-year-old EJADA
project. EJADA was established under an agreement between the European
Commission and the Government of Jordan in April 2000. The project started
in January 2001 and is scheduled to conclude in July 2005. The total
budget for the project is 41.6 million Euros.
About 4662 companies were registered at the Ministry of Trade and
Industry in 2002 at gross capital of $179.1 million. 45% of the companies
were in the services sector. Chinese capital was highest among non-Arab
investments in Jordanian companies last year, ending at $1.5 million.
A
strategic choice for Jordan, a strategic choice for investment
Aqaba’s unique
environment and fragile ecology necessitated the adoption of a
comprehensive Master Plan that includes building regulations to ensure
environmentally sustainable development and the preservation of Aqaba’s
distinguishing character. A balancing act was sought between developing
Aqaba as a tourist destination and maximizing the use of Aqaba as a
‘port city’ with advantages for exports industries and services.
The
vision is to convert Aqaba into an integrated multi-sectoral growth
cluster that will accommodate a diverse range of manufacturing, tourism,
recreational and services activities within a flexible physical planning
framework whilst assuring sustainable development. The three main sectors
for potential investment are: Tourism, Services and Industry.
Tourism
Aqaba
possesses several of the key factors that make it an attractive location
for tourism investment, including low land and construction costs, an
international airport and a seaport. But Aqaba's unique tourist advantage
lies in its cultural, historical and seaside attractions.
The
following is a list of possible investment areas. While this list is not
exhaustive, it is indicative of the areas in which Aqaba would have a
comparative advantage:
Three, four and five star hotels and resorts
Timeshare condominiums
Appartelles
Theme and leisure parks
Golf courses, marinas and cruises
Duty-free shopping malls and Souks
Retirement villages
Exhibitions and convention centers
Services
The
following is a list of possible investment areas. While this list is not
exhaustive, it is indicative of the areas in which Aqaba would have a
comparative advantage:
Location-Based
Services:
Cargo handling
Land development: industrial parks, technology parks, residential
complexes
Business incubators
Aircraft overhaul and conversion
Equipment storage and auctions
Freight forwarding and integrated logistics
Warehousing, cold storage and transshipment
Professional
Services:
Engineering consulting
Information Technology: software development, data conversion,
remote processing, CAD/GIS digitizing, vectorizing, medical transcription,
call centers, claims processing
Medical centers for long-term recovery and rehabilitation
Conversion and repair of small vessels
Residential and retirement centers
Printing and publishing: Arabic translation, offshore English
production
Internet Service Providers
Infrastructure:
Land development
Independent power providers
Water desalination
Privatization
Opportunities:
Municipal services
Selected port operations
Industry
Aqaba
possesses several location advantages important to the manufacturing
industry, including availability of low-cost land and buildings, skilled
and trainable labor, transportation infrastructure, and a stable
microeconomics policy framework.
Moreover,
producers may be interested in exploiting the benefits of the QIZ program
and the duty-free access to imported input materials, not to mention
Jordan's free trade agreements with US, EU and several Arab countries.
The
following is a list of possible investment areas. While this list is not
exhaustive, it is indicative of the areas in which Aqaba would have a
comparative advantage:
Agricultural chemicals: Jordan possesses a higher degree of
comparative advantage in the area of potash and phosphate fertilizers.
This is due to the large reserves of potash and phosphate, the proximity
to both European and growing Asian markets, and the continuing presence of
world-class companies.
Dead Sea cosmetics: A major advantage is Aqaba's proximity to the
Dead Sea, from which the natural ingredients of cosmetic products are
found.
Electronics and electrical appliances
Engineering workshops
Pharmaceuticals
Automotive assembly
Issued
by the Commercial Section of the Embassy of the Hashemite Kingdom of
Jordan
. For further information, please contact Mr. Haitham Abu Alfoul, phone
30-36 99 600 fax 30-36 99 6011, [email protected].
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