His Majesty King Abdullah on Sunday attended a ceremony to launch the Dead Sea Development Zone, which stretches over an area of 40 square kilometres from the Jordan River to Mujib in the south.
"The zone will enjoy a package of incentives and exemptions to lure investments... It will include entertainment and tourism projects and several developments schemes," said Saleh Kilani, chief commissioner at the Development Zones Corporation (DZC), the government arm overseeing the development areas.
He made the remarks after he signed an agreement on behalf of DZC with Saud Nseirat, chairman of the Dead Sea Development Corporation, which recently was established to run the zone.
Also Sunday, the King Abdullah II Design and Development Bureau signed a $30 million deal with RiverHawk MENA to establish a multipurpose vessel manufacturing facility in Aqaba.
The government also announced a project to manufacture military aircraft in Mafraq to the northeast of Amman. A two-seater aircraft will be built in the Mafraq Development Zone.
Two $100 million loan agreement were signed with the French Development Agency and the European Investment Bank to finance the Disi Water Conveyance Project.
To help save the Dead Sea and generate water as of 2014, the government also announced that it will implement the $10 billion Jordan National Red Sea Water Development Project. Officials said the project is separate from the Red-Dead Canal and is supported by the government.
Under an agreement between the Maan Development Company and Sanam Glass Coating (SGI Group), a JD32 million glass-coating factory will be created in the Maan Development Zone.
Other agreements signed include a JD220 million deal to launch the third phase of the King Abdullah Ben Abdul Aziz Residential City. A memorandum of understanding was also signed between MGM Mirage Hospitality and Jordan Dubai Properties for the establishment of a hotel in central Amman. The hotel will also include retail shops, entertainment facilities and restaurants.
The government and Shell Oil also signed an agreement under which the company will explore and extract oil shale reserves.
The government also announced Sunday the beginning of construction on smart buildings in Irbid for ICT and medical industry use.