AMMAN — The head
of the
Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) Nayef Bakhit met with Chinese
Ambassador to Jordan Chen Chuandong Monday to discuss ways to increase and
promote Chinese investments in various sectors of Aqaba’s Special Economic
Zone.
اضافة اعلان
During the
meeting, Bakhit reviewed ASEZA’s financial incentives and economic
opportunities with the envoy, and noted that the arrival of Chinese investments
to Aqaba is evidence of the governorate’s ability to attract foreign investments,
while reminding attendees that China is one of Jordan’s most important trading
partners.
Ambassador Chen
praised the investment environment in Aqaba, calling it “one of the most secure
environments in the Arab region”.
Bakhit pointed to
the need to strengthen ties between Jordan and China, through enhancing mutual
cooperation in the Jordanian tourism sector, which could be done by boosting
marketing strategies that would promote Aqaba as a tourist attraction to
Chinese visitors. He also emphasized the economic potential of attracting
Chinese tourism to the Jordanian “Golden Triangle”, which encompasses
Wadi Rum,
Aqaba, and Petra, and that this could be done through “low-cost or chartered
airlines”.
In 2018, the flow
of China's direct investment in Jordan reached a record high
of approximately $85.62 million, and the stock amounted to approximately
$312 million in 2019. Bilateral trade reached a record $4.11 billion in 2019.
Former vice
chairman of the
Amman Chamber of Commerce Musa Saket told
Jordan News, “Chinese
investments in Aqaba are not a new phenomenon.” The Aqaba International
Industrial Estate (AIIE) has been internationally recognized as one of the
world leading projects of its type. It was recently ranked 10th out of the
MENA “free zones of the future” in a list compiled by the FDI Intelligence Magazine,
put out by the UK’s Financial Times.
PBI Aqaba, Shenzhen
Chamber of Investment, and Aqaba Development Corporation signed a memorandum of
understanding in 2017 for the development and marketing of the AIIE expansion
area as a Shenzhen Aqaba Industrial and Logistics Estate. The estate is in the
southern area of Aqaba Special Economic Zone near the new Aqaba Port
Development. The estate will occupy an area of about 1sq.km. The Shenzhen Aqaba
Estate will be managed as an expansion of the AIIE. The new Shenzhen Aqaba
Estate is planned for an additional $700 million investment and should create
an additional 2,500 jobs. The Shenzhen Aqaba Industrial Estate will be the
first Shenzhen-based project of its type outside China, according to MarcoPolis.
“There are some
Chinese investors who are key stakeholders in some manufacturing companies
located in Aqaba, which produce LED lights,” Saket added. “Jordan is attractive
to Chinese investors, partly because of Jordan’s involvement with the Greater
Arab Free Trade Area (GAFTA), as well as ... the (US-Jordan) Free Trade
Agreement,” he said.
Because there are
no FTAs between China and the US, Chinese investors have been aiming to seize
lucrative opportunities to get involved in garment exports to the US, through
Jordan’s trade agreement with the US. This is why some Chinese companies have
been investing in garment and LED light companies based in Jordan. “Through
Jordan’s GAFTA membership, these same foreign investors aim to boost their
garment exports to the Gulf region, by benefitting from Jordan’s free trade
agreements with the Gulf states,” Saket said.
Former minister
for state of economic affairs Yusuf Masur told
Jordan News, “it is possible for
Aqaba to be a part of China’s well known Belt and Road Initiative in the
future, and as such an expansion would be gladly welcomed by China.” He also
said that “China could be a useful trading partner for Jordan in the future,
although I do not believe that Chinese investment into Aqaba will harm
Jordanian-American relations.”
Similarly,
economic expert
Wajdi Makhamreh also expressed skepticism towards the idea that
Chinese involvement in Aqaba may cause a setback to Jordanian-US relations. “I
do not believe that the US will consider an economic collaboration between
Jordan and China to be highly problematic. The idea of Jordan achieving an
economic renaissance, is a goal that matters for the US,” he said.
Makhamreh added
that “we must not forget that the Jordanian government is looking for financial
contributors to the National Water Carrier Project, which involves water
desalination.
China can possibly play a role in this regard,” he said. “Chinese
investments into Jordan can also lead to an increase in Chinese tourists
arriving to the Kingdom, and it can partially solve some of Jordan’s
unemployment issues by creating jobs. The fact that Aqaba has many tax
incentives is bound to be financially attractive for Chinese investors,” he
concluded.
Political analyst
Labib Kamhawi told
Jordan News that “generally speaking, Jordan’s political
relationship with China is a secondary one, not a primary one. The US is the
country that Jordan has a primary relationship with. However, China has
historically attempted to be involved in the Jordanian electricity sector, as
well as getting involved in Jordanian infrastructure projects.”
The fact that
Jordan has welcomed
Chinese investments especially in Aqaba, most likely
indicates that the US does not view such a measure to be detrimental towards
Jordanian-US relations, Kamhawi said.
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