DOING BUSINESS IN JORDAN Jordan in a snapshot Jordan managed to hold an advanced position on the Arab and international investment map, down to the components and requirements it has, which investors seek; by adopting a clear economic approach to achieve real growth and as a result of the efforts of His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al-Hussein, who constantly emphasizes the necessity of proceeding with the economic and financial reform programs, developing the investment environment to ensure the attraction of foreign investment, and launching a series of procedures and remedies which would: • Increase the national economy product. • Improve its investment environment and strengthen its competitive edge. • Restore the solid and proper financial situation. • Adopt a wide set of adequate legislative and regulatory frameworks for investment. • Deregulation of trade and economic openness, along with the integration. into the world economic through accession to several international, regional and bilateral agreements. Due to its role, as the primary incubator for the Commercial Sector in Jordan, Jordan Chamber of Commerce is keen to extend bridges with various economic activities and institutions from over the world, and having an active and vital presence thru participating in all forums and conferences, which contributes in developing the Arab economic relationships with various international economic entities, in order to promote investment opportunities, and to seize all incentives, advantages, security and political stability that Jordan offers and provides.
WHY INVEST IN JORDAN? JORDAN AT A GLANCE Jordan is an Arab country strategically positioned to serve as a regional business platform. Since King Abdullah II’s 1999 ascension to the throne, Jordan has strongly encouraged foreign investments and has developed a modern-oriented, market-based, and globally-competitive economy. Jordan is also uniquely placed to host investments focused on the reconstruction of Iraq, Syria, and projects in other regional markets. Jordan is committed to prioritizing growth in the coming years after demonstrating resiliency in spite of a series of exogenous crises that slowed down its GDP growth to 2% from an average of 6.5% during the period prior to the global financial crisis, regional turmoil and border closures. For Jordan to grow as in the past, it must attract FDIs, increase its exports, and decrease its dependence on imported energy, all of which require a competitive investment ecosystem. Jordan ranked 104th out of 190 countries in the 2018 Doing Business ranking published by the World Bank.
INFRASTRUCTURE & ICT Jordan infrastructure is modern and follows international standards. The country is internationally connected by two main airports: Queen Alia International Airport, Jordan’s main and largest airport located in Zizya (30 kilometres south of Amman) and Aqaba Airport (also known as King Hussein International Airport), located in the vicinity of Industrial City, northern suburb of Aqaba in Jordan. Finally, Jordan has only one port situated in the Red Sea: Port of Aqaba (12 terminals operated by five different operators). Jordan has also succeeded in creating and developing a highly competitive Information and Communications Technology sector, which is considered to be one of the leading sectors in the MENA region. In 2018, the Information & Communication 36
