SINGAPORE — In a dynamic display of potential and ambition, Jordan introduced itself as the future “must-invest” destination at Wednesday’s high-profile economic conference in Singapore. Under the caption “Jordan: Your Gateway to Human Capital, Competitive Costs, Resilience, and Global Markets,” Planning and International Cooperation Minister Feras Gharaibeh presented a picture of a country ready to record astounding growth—growth that shrewd investors would do well not to miss out on.
Phosphate to Pharmaceuticals: Diversified Strengths
Surrounded by three continents, Jordan is renowned for two of its talents that few know are intertwined: it is home to one of the world’s biggest deposits of phosphate—deployed to nourish almost a quarter of India’s crops—and is quickly developing a thriving pharma industry that ships life-saving drugs throughout the Middle East. “From fields to the lab,” Gharaibeh chuckled, “Jordan industries are feeding bodies and economies both.”
Silicon Desert in the Making
While Jordan’s desert dunes have the appearance of desert caravans, its modern sands shine in the light of computer screens. Riding on a 19% per year growth in the creation of web-based work underpinning it, Amman is being transformed into a “Silicon Desert” by Jordan’s ICT businesses—local start-ups in the community to regional Middle East offices of global giants. Singaporean technology companies, in fact, have found that Jordan provides a gateway to reach more than 400 million consumers of surrounding markets without excessive bureaucracy and with competitive operating costs.
Green Ambitions in a Changing Sky
Beyond fertilizers and fiber optic cables, Jordan’s renewable energy ambitions were the star of a special forum session chaired by Ambassador Samer Naber. With a national climate strategy through 2050 and an emerging policy framework for green bonds, Jordan is targeting a 30% cut in carbon emissions by the end of the decade. Tenders to harness solar power from the ancient Wadi Rum desert, which has already won UNESCO World Heritage Site status, are due to combine eco-innovation with conservation.
From Feasibility to Profitability
An IBM semiconductor business division feasibility study, unveiled at the gathering, placed Jordan on top among peer countries in profitability—due to its stable regulatory framework and strategic logistics corridors connected to Asia, Europe, and Africa. GIC, Temasek, and ST Engineering executives now look to Jordan’s prospective free-trade zones and special economic hubs.
Public-Private Synergy
Arab Bank CEO Randa Sadik and Arab Potash officials pointed to collaboration between the Jordanian government and financial community, promising new financial instruments to fund everything from agro-tech to high-tech production. Panelists pointed out that foreign direct investment in Jordan not only boosts GDP growth—relieving 8% higher now in industrial exports—but also provides thousands of local jobs in industries ranging from apparel to electronics and renewables.
As Gharaibeh is set to follow up with Singapore’s Second Trade and Industry Minister, Tan See Leng, the message could not be clearer: Jordan is not merely opening its doors—it is laying down a red carpet for foreign investors in search of the next frontier.
