UAE funds $220m renewable energy project

AMMAN — UAE will fund a renewable energy project worth $220 million, UAE ambassador to Jordan Matar Shamsi announced, adding that the construction will begin “soon”.

Quoted by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, on Saturday, Shamsi added that under the direction of its leadership, the UAE supports Jordan, and is returning favours the Kingdom has done for the Emirates before and after the latter’s establishment.

He cited Marsa Zayed and Saraya projects in Aqaba that are being implemented by an Emirati company, with an investment amounting to more than $12 billion and securing thousands of jobs for Jordanians. 

As the UAE, a federation of seven emirates that emerged in 1971, marks its 46th national day, Shamsi told Petra that Jordan was the first country to recognise and establish diplomatic ties with the Emirati union, remarking that diplomatic representation at the level of ambassador was in place one day after the union was declared. 

Shamsi noted that the UAE-Jordanian Joint Committee held its third meeting at the end of October 2017, during which 12 agreements and memoranda of understanding were signed. He pointed out that the volume of UAE investments in Jordan amounts to 16 billion dollars. On the other hand, there are many leading Jordanian businessmen investing in the UAE.

On bilateral relations, the Emirati envoy pointed out that the first Jordanian educational, military and health missions to the UAE were sent when the UAE was an underdeveloped desert community in the 1950s. 

No further details were available on the project.