Jordan Times
Monday, January 5, 2004
JD23m state company registered to develop, manage Aqaba facilities
AMMAN (Petra) — A company capitalised at JD23 million and charged with the development and management of Aqaba's strategic facilities, was registered at the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), a senior official said Sunday.ASEZA deputy chief commissioner, Emad Fakhouri, said the company will forge ahead this year with practical steps for developing the special zone noting that the operational assets of the Aqaba seaport and airport will be transferred to the company in accordance with the Cabinet's decision in this regard.
According to Fakhouri, the state-owned company will focus on developing the organisational plan of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone (ASEZ) and on attracting developers, operators and managers to administer the various facilities at the highest standards in order to meet investors' growing demands.
He also anticipated that an agreement will be signed at the beginning of next year with an international developer to manage the container port.
Fakhouri highlighted a growth in Aqaba's tourism sector at present predicting that within the coming ten years hotels, with a capacity of 5,000 rooms, will be launched.
In addition, he envisaged 20,000 job opportunities at Aqaba Industrial Estate where over $22 million have been invested so far.
Five commercial complexes valued at over JD100 million will be built in Aqaba. Of those, two complexes will be opened this year.
Fakhouri pointed out that ASEZA registered 1,136 companies, of which 48 per cent were not previously operating at the port city.
In terms of sectoral distribution, the commercial sector ranked first with 861 registered companies, followed by the service sector with 198 companies. The industrial sector ranked third accounting for 39 companies while the remaining 38 corporations were registered as multisectoral.
Over 12,900 dunums have also been allocated for investment purposes, with the greatest portion earmarked for the tourism sector.
Highlighting infrastructure projects, Fakhouri said that work on the new warehouses located to the north of the city has been completed. The crafts zone has also been expanded, in addition to other projects which have been carried out.