His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday announced a plan to establish a $750 million special development zone in Mafraq Governorate, where the poverty rate stands at 37.2 per cent.
The Mafraq Special Zone is the first of several such areas planned in the country, especially where poverty and unemployment rates are relatively high, the King said at the King Hussein Aviation College, a military training base in Mafraq.
The special zone, which will evolve over the next 19 years, will be built on a nine-square-kilometre area and serve as a transport, logistic and industrial hub serving not only Jordan, but also neighbours like Saudi Arabia, Syria and Iraq.
The governorate, which extends over 29.6 per cent of the country's total area, is located between 300km to 550km from the major ports in the region: Aqaba, Beirut, Tartous and Latakia. The Iraqi border is 285km to the east and the Syrian 20km to the north, while Omari on the border with Saudi Arabia is about 70km to the east.
Mafraq, where six of the country's 20 poverty pockets are located, is 20km from Zarqa Governorate, home of four others.
The special zone was expected to create 13,000 direct jobs by 2015 and 32,000 jobs a decade later, in addition to a similar number of indirect jobs — all will be available for residents of Mafraq and neighbouring districts.
King Abdullah said he would be working with the Labour Ministry to ensure that the workforce in these areas is adequately trained to man the investment projects expected to flow into the zone.
The plan will have four components: Industry, logistics, housing and airport.
The industries will mainly be chemicals, pharmaceuticals, manufactured commodities and food products. The logistics centre will have storage facilities and other services related to transportation from the Arabian Gulf to the Mediterranean ports in Syria and Lebanon, in addition to Aqaba.
The housing quarter will include, in addition to residential units, commercial centers and social service facilities.
The airport, which is now used by the military, will be rehabilitated for civilian use, especially as an air cargo hub.
The project is coupled with the establishment of the Mafraq Development Company, a JD100 million joint venture that will manage the zone. The Social Security Corporation owns 80 per cent of the shares, while the Hashemite Fund for the Development of the Badia and the King Abdullah II Fund for Development control a 10 per cent share each.
Minister of Labour Bassem Salem, who is also chairman of the Social Security Corporation, said studies have shown that the project is highly feasible.
In their remarks at the event, Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Ziad Fariz pledged full support for the project, which will enjoy all the privileges and exemptions of a free zone.
The Jordan Times