Forty-seven Arab investors are expected to soon be granted Jordanian citizenship to encourage more investment in the kingdom, official sources said on Saturday, quoted by the Jordan Times newspaper.
According to Reem Badran, the Jordan Investment Board (JIB)'s director general, 23 of the investors applied to get the Jordanian passport through the deposit system, whereby each investor has to deposit around $1 million at the Central Bank of Jordan for a 3-5 year period.
The remaining 24, said Badran, applied through the direct investment system under which each investor must have a minimum $750,000 investment in a productive project.
Potential beneficiaries must apply to the JIB, and a committee grouping all concerned parties then approves the applications and refers them to the Jordanian Prime Ministry for approval.
Once the approval is given, investors are given a three-year temporary passport, after which they are granted a permanent one, provided that their investment is still operational, she said.
Foreign investors have to apply through other channels.
“Giving Jordanian nationality to Arab investors is meant to encourage them to invest in Jordan and to facilitate their transactions,” Badran told the paper, adding that between 40-60 investors receive Jordanian passports every year – Albawaba.com
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