AMMAN, 9 April 2006 — An agreement was signed yesterday for Jordan’s largest development project so far, a $5 billion urban regeneration project to be set up at the Red Sea port of Aqaba. The venture is a partnership between the Horizon Development Holdings, chaired by Bahaa Hariri, son of the late Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, and the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA).
The project is to be built around a man-made lagoon spanning approximately 13.5 million square meters and situated about 11 kms north of the Red Sea shore.
“This is a model town which serves as an ideal site for Aqaba-bound international businesses and investments,” Hariri said after the signing ceremony that took place at the Jordanian port. The ASEZA chief commissioner Nader Dahabi said that the project, to be carried out over the coming ten years, would create about 50,000 new jobs.
