PDTRA, SJIF discuss enhancing investments in Petra, job creation

AMMAN — The Petra Development and Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA) and the Saudi-Jordanian Investment Fund Company (SJIF) discussed means to enhance cooperation and attract more investments in Petra on Thursday.  

During the visit of a delegation from the fund to the authority, PDTRA Chief Commissioner Suleiman Farajat acquainted the delegates with the most important tourist investments in Petra, noting that the authority is keen on diversifying the tourist attractions in the area, including environment, adventure and cultural tourism, so as to lengthen tourists’ stay, according to a PDTRA statement. 

The chief commissioner expressed PDTRA’s readiness to cooperate with the fund in a way that also contributes to proving jobs for local residents.

He also highlighted the importance of linking “promising” Arab tourism sites with Petra so as to increase the number of tourists to the region in general, and the rose-red city in particular. 

For his part, SJIF CEO Omar Wir also expressed his keenness to initiate cooperation between the two sides, announcing the fund’s intention to invest in Petra in ways that will contribute to increasing the visit period of tourists to benefit local communities in the area and creating more jobs.  

Wir noted that the strategy of the company is based on, among other things, establishing investments in infrastructure projects and economic sectors, such as tourism, adding that the fund seeks to enhance the capability of the national economy and contribute to the development of local communities. 

The SJIF is a Limited Public Shareholding Company based in Amman. It was formed in 2017 by the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia and 16 commercial and Islamic Jordanian banks, and is registered according to the 2016 Jordan Investment Fund Law, the fund’s website says.

With a capital commitment of $3 billion, the SJIF pursues strategic, sustainable and economically feasible investments in Jordan’s “vital and promising” sectors. 

The SJIF seeks to invest in viable long-term projects, create a clear and sustainable socio-economic impact in Jordan and align its objectives with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia’s strategic investment direction, the website added.