Today Jordan is proving that limited resources do not mean limited ambition, and that countries are measured not only by the wealth they possess but by the opportunities they are able to create. The projects now under way in water, transport, energy, industry and logistics are not scattered works. They are the outlines of an economic transformation that could move Jordan from a country burdened by scarce resources to one that makes good use of its location, its advantages and its human capabilities.
اضافة اعلان
Jordan is changing, and this time we are not talking about slogans or plans on paper, but about projects that have begun to leave the waiting room. Jafar Hassan's government has pushed forward major files that stayed under study and debate for decades, foremost among them the National Water Carrier and the Aqaba railway, alongside energy, industry, logistics and development-zone projects. The most important is the foundation stone of the Aqaba–Shidiya–Ma'an railway, laid yesterday under royal patronage, while implementation steps for the National Water Carrier are advancing, on a path that could redraw the kingdom's economic map.
But success will be measured neither by the number of projects nor by the size of investments, but by the new economy these projects produce, and that is the real challenge.
The National Water Carrier should not be seen only as a project to secure water, but as a foundation for industrial, tourism and investment expansion. The railway should not be merely a means of moving phosphate from Shidiya to Aqaba, but a bridge linking the mines to factories, development zones, the port and markets.
Here the value of Aqaba becomes clear. A port alone does not make a regional hub, but a port connected to railways, the Ma'an port, industrial zones, storage centers and logistics services can turn Jordan from a small market into a regional platform for trade, transport and re-export.
The greatest opportunity is that Jordan can profit from its location, not from its resources alone. Every shipment that passes through it, every factory built along the railway route, and every logistics service that grows up around the port can add value, jobs and new income to the economy.
But this requires economic management of the projects, not merely construction management. Energy must be tied to industry, water to investment, railways to mining, the port to markets, and development zones to production and export.
The test before Jafar Hassan's government and the governments to come is to ensure this vision continues and not to treat each project as a stand-alone achievement. Jordan does not need more projects so much as projects that work together.
The real yardstick is not how much we spent, nor how many kilometers of railway we built, but how many factories we attracted, how many jobs we created, how much we cut transport and production costs, and how much our exports grew.
Jordan is changing, and the opportunity today is bigger than carrying out major projects. It is an opportunity to redefine the kingdom's role in the region. If we succeed in linking these projects into a single system, Jordan can move from a country of transit between markets to a platform for production, trade, logistics and clean energy. There, Jordan's location becomes a strength, not merely geography.
