AMMAN, 4 May 2006 — Jordanian and Saudi businesses yesterday launched an investment fund with a capital of $500 million to be run by a joint Jordanian Saudi holding company.
The step was declared by the Jordanian-Saudi Business Council on the sidelines of an annual meeting of the Joint Jordanian-Saudi Commission.
Speaking on this occasion, Saudi Minister of Industry and Trade Dr. Hashim Yamani, who leads his country’s delegation to the meeting, said that his country envisaged the setting up of new “joint industrial and investment ventures” that help to increase the volume of trade and investments between the two countries. Yamani commended Jordan’s investment environment which he said “has become a model for the region” and the matrix of laws enacted with the aim of attracting foreign investments.
Chairman of Jordan’s Chamber of Commerce Haider Murad said the new firm “will run an investment fund with a capital of $500 million that covers several promising sectors inside Jordan”.
He urged the private sectors in the two countries “to complement the governments’ role in boosting bilateral economic cooperation through the establishment of new joint projects and expanding merchandise between the two countries”. Murad noticed that Saudi Arabia emerged over the past couple of years as Jordan’s top trade partner, replacing Iraq, after the Hashemite Kingdom began to depend almost entirely on Saudi crude for meeting the country’s energy needs.
He put the volume of trade between the two countries in 2005 at about $2.7 billion, with the balance of trade being overwhelmingly in Riyadh’s interest.