Total registered investments in Jordan reach JD1.1 billion in H1 of 2011

Volume of total investments registered in the kingdom reached approximately JD1.1 billion in the first half of this year, of which JD614 million were registered through Jordan Investment Board (JIB) compared to around JD876.2 million during the same period of last year. The remaining sum of around JD490 million in investments were registered at the development zones.

Investment projects registered through JIB generated 11,136 jobs compared to 8,578 jobs in 2010 while projects registered through the development zones provided 2,058 jobs.

Of the total investments benefiting from the Investment Promotion Law, Arab investments accounted for 43 percent, with the United Arab Emirates topping the list of investing countries at JD84 million.

Iraq ranked next as its investment volume was JD13 million, followed by Lebanon whose investments stood at JD7.3 million.

As for non-Arab countries, Canada ranked first with JD120 million in investments, followed by the Netherlands at JD31 million and India at JD6 million.

Accounting for the lion’s share of total investments benefiting from the law, Amman received 82 percent at JD503 million worth of investments, distributed among 130 projects. Of these, foreign investments represented 52 percent, at JD262 million.

The different governorates accounted for the remaining 18 percent of the total investment volume. Among them, Zarqa’s share was 4 percent, Balqa 2.7 percent, Karak 2.4 percent, Maan 2.2 percent, Jerash 2.2 percent, Mafraq 1.6 percent and Irbid 1.3 percent. Tafileh, Madaba and Ajloun accounted for the remaining portion.

At the sectoral level, industry accounted for the largest investment volume that benefited from the law, at 79 percent or JD488 million.

The hotel sector ranked second at 12 percent, followed by the agricultural sector at 4 percent. The remaining 5 per cent were distributed among projects related to hospitals, maritime, land and railway transport, conferences and exhibition centres and recreation and tourism facilities.

JIB’s Chief Executive Officer, His Excellency Mr. Samer Asfour, said that JIB investment plan for this year, which was presented to the government, focuses on drawing value-added projects that can create and provide job opportunities for Jordanians.

Mr. Asfour added that JIB is currently updating Jordan’s investment map, taking into account the competitive advantages of each governorate to guarantee a just distribution of the economic development gains.