Agreement inked to attract expatriate, foreign investors

AMMAN — With the aim of encouraging expatriates and foreign businesspeople to invest in Jordan, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Thursday between local entities.

The MoU, which was signed between the Businesspeople Association of Jordanian Expatriates (BAJE) and the Jordan Free and Development Zones Group (JFDZG), aims at boosting investment opportunities in the free trade zone areas.

It also aims to ease the exchange of information, data and studies between the two entities in line with the marketing plan and to conduct joint workshops reaching more Jordanian expatriates, according to a statement.

"We are convinced that there is a large capital with Jordanian expatriates abroad that could be invested here,” JFDZG Chairman Khalaf Humiesat has told The Jordan Times. 

"The BAJE plays a vital role in raising the Jordanian expatriates’ knowledge about the investment opportunities and privileges the JFDZG has adopted to ease their investment opportunities in our developmental and free zone areas," the chairman stated.

For “the benefit of the Kingdom”, Humiesat said, the priority "is to encourage the Jordanian men and women living abroad to return and invest their money here and contribute in maintaining a strong economy that will eventually benefit our country".   

Meanwhile, BAJE President Fadi Majali said the idea behind the MoU is to reach out to Jordanian expatriates and other investors to inform them about the investment opportunities and privileges they would enjoy in the Kingdom, especially at the JFDZG facilities that are spread throughout country.

The chairman added that Jordanian expatriates are a main contributor to the national economy, as the value of their remittances positively reflects on the GDP, raises deposits at banks, increases lending volume for the private sector, boosts foreign currency reserves and reduces unemployment.

"Our main role is to ensure the proper marketing of the available entities and opportunities for investors abroad in order to encourage them to come and invest in Jordan," Majali told The Jordan Times.

Majali pointed out that Jordan’s economy is "going through tough times, and our role and duty is to look for alternatives and find good partners and investors to help us boost the economy".

Jordanian expatriates’ investment volume is around  $7.2 billion, according to Majali, adding that the majority of these investments are concentrated in the real estate, securities and shares, tourism and hotels, industrial, service and ICT sectors.