Following is a report by Jordan's Petra News Agency as part of FANA's economic affairs

ECO-JORDAN-FANA-REPORT Jordan generates encouraging investment openings based on firm pedestals AMMAN, Jan 17 (KUNA) -- Jordan has created promising investment opportunities in several economic sectors in a bid to rope in investors and businessmen through an attractive and enabling business and investment environment, based on partnerships between both public and private sectors.
By so doing, Jordan counts on firm foundations and potential, chiefly its wise leadership, political, monetary and financial security and stability, strategic position, free economy and easy access to world markets through multilateral trade agreements, educated and qualified manpower and cutting-edge communication network.
Jordan has recently orchestrated an investment mechanism that enables it to vie with surrounding rivals by means of capitalizing on all tools to promote its business environment.
It has already enacted pieces of modern legislation aiming at promoting the investment atmosphere, mainly an investment regulation law that gives the Ministry of Investment more power and sets general guidelines and policies for investment attraction.
It has also promulgated a law on partnerships between both public and private sectors, aiming at promoting and enabling the investment environment in a way that streamlines procedures and implements strategic and vital projects.
In this context, Jordanian Investment Minister Kholoud Saqqaf said the kingdom is interested in drawing and promoting more investments, especially Arab ones, citing relevant investment and business reforms.
Speaking to Petra news agency, she said the recently adopted investment environment law includes many investment attraction advantages inside and outside development and free zones, thus increasing investments by 34 percent to roughly 879 million Jordanian dinars over nine months of 2023 from 657 million dinars during the same period of 2023.
The law has sanctioned the kingdom's largest investment fund in view of its authorized capital of 100 million dinars, she said, boasting that it is wholly owned by Jordanian banks.
She pointed out the government's absolute support for investment funds, which have a role to play in stimulating and attracting investment corporations for various economic sectors of global priority and competitiveness.
Regarding investment opportunities launched by her ministry, Al-Saqqaf said the "invest.jo" platform was created to cope with general investment policies as one of the tools of the ministry's promotion strategy for 2023-2026.
Elaborating, she said the ministry's platform targets promising sectors and specific markets with a view to boosting investments in high-added-value sectors that contribute to achieving development and providing jobs for Jordanians.
She added that the platform includes 36 various investment opportunities involving high-added-value economic sectors and investments worth USD 1.4 billion, in addition to 17 promising economic sectors.
Furthermore, the platform gives investors information pertinent to investment in the kingdom, mainly including the legislative investment framework and prime steps for project registration and authorization, along with incentives and privileges, the minister remarked.
Among the sectors in question are, inter alia, agriculture, food safety, chemical and creative industries, education, energy, trade, transportation, logistics, information technology, health care, tourism, clothing, and film industry.
The Jordanian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources has launched an online platform to demonstrate investment opportunities in the country's mineral, oil, gas and oil shale resources, aiming to attract local and foreign investors and boost the mining sector's contribution to the national economy.
The platform, invest.memr.gov.jo, provides information on the locations, technical reports and licensing procedures of various mineral resources, such as basalt, silica, gypsum, diatomite, kaolin, dolomite and feldspar, as well as oil and oil shale projects.
For his part, Chairman of the commercial chambers of Jordan and Amman Khalil Tawfiq said Jordan is ushering in a new economic era, citing an economic development plan extending until 2033, guaranteed by King Abdullah II and drawing over USD 41 billion.
To make it easy for investors and businessmen and wipe out potential obstacles, Jordan has established a new ministry for investors' affairs and enacted pieces of modern legislation involving multiple incentives and privileges, aiming at roping in foreign, especially Arab, investments.
In this context, he cited Jordan's potential as security, stability and monetary stability, life quality, education, strategic position, strong foreign relations, and trade agreements with various global economic blocs.
Chairman of the industrial chambers of Jordan and Amman Fathi Al-Jaghbeer said his country has recently witnessed several developments that have positively reflected on the kingdom's investment environment.
He boasted that Jordan has a distinguished strategic geographic position and several mineral resources, chiefly phosphate and potash, along with developmental and industrial zones.
It has also concluded bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements that have enabled national products to reach more than 1.5 billion consumers around the world, he added.
Therefore, he urged Arab investors and businessmen to seize great and various opportunities in the industrial sector in the kingdom. (end) mt