Competitiveness body set up, deals signed at WEF

AMMAN — The government announced Friday the establishment of the National Competitiveness Council, which will be chaired by Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour and comprise private sector and investor representatives as members. 

In welcoming remarks at a lunch attended by Their Majesties King Abdullah and Queen Rania, Ensour said the council aims to enhance the country’s business environment, launch more opportunities and streamline regulatory procedures.

Meanwhile, the government announced the signing of agreements and the launch of projects worth $6.9 billion in total, including agreements signed on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on the Middle East and North Africa (WEF-MENA) worth $2.5 billion, in the following seven sectors, according to an official press statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times.

Renewable energy and mineral resources

1.Signing of a letter of intent between Chinese firm Hanergy and Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (MEMR) within a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) at a value of $1.5 billion. Hanergy will grant MEMR $310 million to upgrade the local grid capacity. 

2.Signing of a letter of intent for a liquefied natural gas sale and purchase agreement between British Gas Corporation and MEMR (worth $6 billion over 20 years). 

3.Signing of a 20-year PPA between Green Watts and the National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) for an 82-megawatt (MW) wind farm in Al Rajef (at a value of $174 million over 20 years). 

4.Signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the exploration and development of oil shale between Canadian firm Questerre Energy Corporation and MEMR at a value of $35.5 million.

5.Signing of an agreement for the exploration of oil and gas at Hamzah Oilfield between Canadian firm Transeuro and MEMR at a value of $21 million.

6.Signing of an oil and gas exploration agreement between Canadian firm Ammonite Energy and MEMR at a value of $7 million.

7.Signing of a copper ore exploration MoU between Mexican firm Altos Hornos De Mexico and MEMR at a value of $3.3 million.  

Transport and infrastructure

8.Signing of an MoU between KBW Investments and the Jordan Investment Commission to explore investment opportunities valued at $400 million in aviation and infrastructure in Jordan.

9.Signing of an MoU between the Greater Amman Municipality and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) to retrofit street lights with LED bulbs as Phase I of replacing Amman’s street lights with efficient ones at $20 million.

10.Signing of an agreement between Noor Jordan for Transport - Taxi Moumayaz and the Greater Amman Municipality for replacing 300 cars with hybrid vehicles and up to 100 cars with electric vehicles at a value of $13 million.  

11.Signing of an MoU with manufacturers of electric cars—Tesla, BMW and Renault—to gradually adopt the use of electric vehicles in the public sector as an environment-friendly means of transport. In an initiative to support this move, Manaseer Group will offer supercharge services for electric vehicles at various gas stations throughout Jordan as a CSR initiative. Mercedes has also announced its intention to launch its electric car models in the Middle East, starting with Jordan.

12.Signing of a letter of intent between the International Road Transport Union, the Arab Union of Land Transport for the National System and the Ministry of Transport (MoT) for training professional transport drivers.

13.Signing of a technical cooperation MoU between EBRD and MoT to support and promote Jordan’s transport projects.

ICT and education

14.Signing of the National Broadband Network Agreement for southern governorates between Masar United Contracting Company and the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MoICT) at a value of $44.5 million.

15.International Finance Corporation (IFC) Investment in Wamda regional IT fund at a value of $10 million to support promising technology companies and drive job creation across the Middle East and North Africa.

16.Signing of an agreement between Cisco Systems and Royal Medical Services to connect military hospitals via telepresence facilities to King Hussein Medical City in Amman.

17.Signing of an MoU for mobile applications donated by Zain and PALMA to MoICT to deliver e-government services through phone apps. 

18.Signing of an MoU between KINZ Company and MoICT to provide the general public with data pertaining to public sector entities.

19.Singing of an MoU between MoICT, Microsoft Corp. and Jordan Universities Network, and to launch the Jordan Open Courseware Platform for public universities, starting with the University of Jordan, Jordan University for Science and Technology and Yarmouk University.

20.IFC investment in the Luminus Group (Al Quds College) in Jordan worth $10 million, with the aim of enhancing the quality of vocational training and education

In addition, $4.4 billion worth of projects were also unveiled at WEF-MENA in various vital sectors:

Energy, renewable energy and mining

1.Announcing Arab Potash Company investment plans for the upcoming five years at a value of $880 million. The projects entail expanding the company’s investments in the Kingdom.

2.ACWA Power project to repower the 485MW Hussein Thermal Power station at a value of $500 million. 

3.Reaching financial closure for 12 solar projects with a capacity of 200MW from MEMR’s first round of direct proposal submission in Mafraq, Maan and Aqaba governorates at a value of $400 million. Projects to be operational by 2016. 

4.Announcing purchase prices for solar projects from MEMR’s second round of direct proposal submission to be installed in northern, eastern and central Jordan with a total capacity of 200MW and a value of $400 million.

5.Early commissioning of the 117MW Tafileh Wind Farm, at a value of $285 million. Project to be operational in September 2015.

6.Signing of Fujaij 89MW wind project power purchase agreement at a value of $160 million.

7.Announcing shortlisted firms for the 65-75MW solar project at Al Qwairah funded by Abu Dhabi Fund for Development at a value of $150 million.

8.Starting implementation of the 66MW wind project at Al Hussein Bin Talal University by Spanish firm Elecnor and funded by the Kuwaiti Fund for Arab Economic Development at a value of $120 million. Initial commissioning will take place by the end of 2015.

9.Starting the execution of a 10MW solar plant by Philadelphia Company in Mafraq Governorate at a value of $25 million. Project is to be operational by July 2015.

Transport and infrastructure

10.Announcing the signing of an agreement between the Saudi Fund for Development and the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation (MoPIC) to establish Industrial cities in Madaba, Salt, Jerash and Tafileh for $30 million. 

11.Announcement of the technical assistance programme on the revision of the economic and financial analysis studies for the Jordan Railway Project by the Union for the Mediterranean and MoT.

Tourism and urban development

12.Construction of Abdali Mall at a total value of $300 million. Project to be completed in March 2016. 

13. Construction of Clemenceau Medical Centre in Abdali with a capacity of 200 beds at a value of $220 million. Expected to be completed in June 2017.  

14.Construction of Rotana five-star hotel in Abdali at a value of $200 million. Expected to be completed by November 2015. 

15.Construction of Abdali Gateway, a multipurpose development project at a value of $200 million. Expected to be completed by December 2015.  

16.Construction of five-star W Hotel at a value of $190 million. Expected to be completed by the second half of 2016. 

17.The construction of five-star Le Grey Hotel at a value of $150 million, which is expected to be completed in December 2017.

18.Construction of Damac Heights apartment complex in Abdali at a value of $87 million. Expected to be completed by December 2015. 

ICT

19.Signing of the National Broadband Network Agreement for central governorates between the Saudi Fund for Development and MoICT at a total value of $50 million. Expected to be completed by end-2018. 

20.500 start-ups launched an initiative, in cooperation with MoICT, for three micro-funds focused on Jordan and the MENA region. The three funds will be between $3-5 million in size, and focus on tech companies as they are getting started.

21.King Hussein Business Park awarded Zain Jordan the tender to rehabilitate, manage and operate the Tier III Disaster Recovery Centre in the park which will provide solutions for data centres, disaster recovery and cloud services sites.

22.Agreement between the King Hussein Business Park and Jordan’s Higher Council of Science and Technology to establish a Nano Technology Lab in the business park which will be a platform for research and development that will boost innovation and creative thinking. The project is funded by the Scientific Research Fund and the Gulf grant.

23.Announcement of the King Abdullah Economic City’s endowment for the growth of Jordanian small and medium enterprises’ contribution of $2 million over two years (expandable to $10 million over 10 years) to support the development of Jordanian small- and medium-sized enterprises in penetrating the Saudi Arabian market.