JIEC attracts JD240m in investments, generates 11,000 jobs in 2024

AMMAN — The Jordan Industrial Estates Company (JIEC) achieved “remarkable” investment results in 2024, attracting 211 new investments worth JD240 million.

JIEC, in a statement issued on Monday, noted that these projects are expected to create around 11,000 job opportunities during various operational phases, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

JIEC said that the new investments were distributed across the industrial and service sectors.

The company signed 175 industrial investment contracts with a total value of JD224 million, including 88 contracts with existing investors expanding their operations within the industrial estates, and 87 contracts with new investors, in addition to 36 service sector investment contracts.

King Abdullah II Industrial Estate (AIE) in Sahab topped the list in terms of industrial investment attraction, securing 61 projects worth JD81 million, which are expected to generate some 1,900 jobs.

It was followed by Al Hassan Industrial Estate, which attracted 46 investments worth JD30 million, with an estimated 3,800 job opportunities.

Al Muwaqqar Industrial Estate secured 26 investments valued JD95 million, expected to provide around 4,700 jobs in their initial operational phases.

Al Hussein bin Abdullah II Industrial Estate in Karak attracted 17 new investments worth JD5 million, anticipated to create about 170 job opportunities.

Madaba Industrial Estate secured 14 industrial investments totalling JD7 million, JIEC said, expecting these schemes to offer around 322 jobs during initial operations.

Regarding the origin of investments, the company revealed that 63 per cent were Jordanian, 25 per cent foreign, and 12 per cent joint Jordanian-foreign investments, covering a variety of productive sectors including plastics, engineering, paper and cardboard, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and construction.

JIEC Director-General Omar Juwaid attributed the success in attracting investments to the investment climate, strategic locations of the industrial estates, and the incentives offered to industrial investors.

Juwaid noted that 2024 witnessed a “strong” performance in attracting industrial investments, coinciding with the completion of expansion phases and the tendering of additional industrial building spaces in several estates in order to accommodate new investments and meet investor demand for developed lands and ready-made facilities.

He praised the ongoing government support for industrial investment in Jordan’s industrial estates, highlighting specific incentives in Al Hussein and Tafileh industrial estates.

Such incentives include electricity tariff reductions of up to 80 per cent for 10 years, listing investments on the productive branches programme, and a 50 per cent discount on container handling costs at the Aqaba port, the director-general noted.

He said that the total number of industrial investments in the 10 industrial estates managed by JIEC has reached approximately 975 companies, with total investments exceeding JD3 billion and providing nearly 63,000 job opportunities.

The completion rate of the first phase of Zarqa Industrial Estate reached around 60 per cent in 2024. 

The facility is expected to attract numerous industrial projects, “positively” impacting the total number of investments, capital inflows and job creation across the estates.