Saudi grant to finance infrastructure projects at new industrial estates

AMMAN — The government on Sunday signed a $30 million grant agreement with the Saudi Development Fund (SDF) to finance infrastructure projects for new industrial estates to be established in the Tafileh, Madaba, Jerash and Balqa governorates.

The Jordan Industrial Estates Corporation (JIEC) will implement the projects, which will be jointly financed by the SDF and the corporation.

The new industrial estates are part of JIEC’s future plan to build similar facilities in other governorates based on the development needs of each governorate, a JIEC statement said.

The infrastructure projects will be implemented in two phases, with the first being carried out between 2015 and 2017 at an estimated cost of JD35 million.

SDF will contribute $30 million (around JD21 million), with JIEC covering the rest of the cost, while the corporation will finance the entire second phase, scheduled to be implemented between 2018 and 2020, the statement added.

JIEC Chief Executive Ali Madadha said the grant is part of the second phase of Saudi Arabia’s share of the Gulf Cooperation Council grant.

Work on these projects will begin during the fourth quarter of 2015, he added, noting that the grant is aimed at increasing the industrial sector’s growth rate in particular and the national economy in general, in addition to enhancing the Kingdom’s exports and imports, and addressing the problems of poverty and unemployment.

Madadha added that the agreement will contribute to securing jobs for Jordanians in the construction sector during the implementation phase, and offer many other opportunities in several industries that will invest in these estates.

JIEC, considered the biggest incubator for industrial investments in the Kingdom, owns and runs five industrial estates in Sahab, Muwaqqar, Irbid, Karak and Aqaba that house around 750 Jordanian, Arab and foreign companies in different sectors, which have so far provided around 49,000 jobs.