French firm may develop land ports in Aqaba

AMMAN — A world-renowned French company is likely to invest in Aqaba and in Jordan at large, according to a senior Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) official.

ASEZA Chief Commissioner Kamel Mahadin said ASEZA seeks to attract more investments in the container shipping, logistics and freight forwarding sector and, within this context, it has discussed a development plan with the CMA CGM Group, the third-largest container shipping company worldwide and number one in France. 

The group, founded in Marseille 1978,  showed interest in investing in Jordan and particularly in Aqaba where a delegation from the French group toured the Aqaba Container Terminal (ACT) facilities along with officials from ASEZA, before they looked into proposed sites for the land port the firm plans to develop there.

Bringing such huge firm into Aqaba is an added value not just to the port city but also to the country as well, Mahadin said, stressing that ASEZA will provide all the support needed to ensure that the French group would work in a convenient and flexible environment.

Aqaba Port is facing increasing demands for its services amid all the ongoing instability in the neighbouring countries, hence, it needs to improve its services and expand capacity, he added.

“Therefore, the CMA CGM Group would have the chance to cooperate with ACT, Jordan's only container port and the second busiest facility on the Red Sea.” Mahadin continued: “In this context, the French firm would look into land ports opportunities in the Kingdom.”

Farid T. Salem, executive officer and a board member of CMA CGM Group, said: "The company has studied opportunities of working in Jordan, and it will work on developing land ports in Aqaba and in Amman, to enable the shipping companies to speed up delivery of the containers to their final destinations."

This kind of investment will save costs of imports as well, he remarked.

As part of its efforts to attract more investments to Aqaba, ASEZA recently participated in 17th Arab-German Business Forum in Berlin.

A delegation from ASEZA and the Aqaba Development Corporation presented the business community in Germany with the investment opportunities available in the city ranging from tourism, logistics and hotels to light industries.