Aqaba
From The Report: Jordan 2012
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The town of Aqaba and the short strip of coast on which it lies represent Jordan’s only access to the sea. This makes Aqaba a strategic location for a range of sectors in the economy, including transport, logistics and industry. Aqaba is also a premier tourism destination, boasting the highest number of hotel nights outside of the capital. Furthermore, its tourism capacity is set to be expanded by three real estate mega-projects, namely the Ayla, Saraya and Marsa Zayed developments. The projects will see numerous hotels and residential units built, as well as the extension of the coastline. However, as in the rest of the country, the local tourism sector has recently been negatively affected by regional instability and the eurozone crisis. Development and growth will continue to depend on this and other external factors such as the national economy, the regional real estate market, and the political and security situation in neighbouring countries.

This chapter includes an interview with Nasser Madadha, Chief Commissioner of Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority; and Chairman of the Board of the Aqaba Development Corporation.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

A focus of development: Numerous projects look set to transform the city
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The town of Aqaba and the short strip of coast on which it lies represent Jordan’s only access to the sea. This makes Aqaba a key location for a range of sectors of the Jordanian economy, most notably tourism, transport and logistics, and industry. To encourage development, the town and surrounding areas since 2001 have been designated a special economic zone. A number of major investments, including the redevelopment of its ports and several large-scale real estate projects, are transforming…

Analysis

Filling in the gaps: Three major projects help to turn Aqaba into a centre for tourism
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One of Jordan’s premier tourism destinations, Aqaba boasts the highest number of visitor nights outside of the capital, Amman, though as in the rest of the country, the local tourism sector has been negatively affected by regional instability and the eurozone crisis. According to statistics from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, 460,286 people spent a combined total of 910,331 visitor nights in hotels in Aqaba in the first 10 months of 2011, which represented a fall of 9.6% visitor…

Interview

OBG talks to Nasser Madadha, Chief Commissioner, Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), and Chairman of the Board, Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC)
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Interview: Nasser Madadha Which countries have provided the majority of foreign direct investment (FDI) in ASEZA? NASSER MADADHA: Although we aim to attract investment from around the world, for the past decade, our main FDI target market was the GCC. Thus, most of the existing investments in ASEZA come from the Gulf and are distributed across several economic sectors. The original ASEZA master plan aimed to attract $6bn in investment by 2020, including 50% in the tourism sector, 30% in the services…

Analysis

New opportunities: Projects in a range of sectors are generating tenders and contracts
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In addition to port redevelopment projects, ambitious ventures in the energy, real estate and heavy industry sectors are generating new business opportunities in Aqaba. Tenders for the construction of a new oil terminal, a liquid natural gas (LNG) terminal, and a phosphate and potash export terminal are all due to be awarded in the near future, while the backers of one of Aqaba’s major real estate projects plan to appoint a new construction contractor in 2012. NEW ENERGY TERMINALS: Plans…