JORDAN and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have signed a $US 2.3bn joint venture agreement to build a 360km railway in Jordan linking phosphate and potash mines with the Red Sea port of Aqaba.
The agreement, signed in the presence of Jordan’s prime minister, Dr Jafar Hassan, and Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, vice-president and deputy prime minister of the UAE, establishes the UAE-Jordan Railway Company (UJRC) to oversee the construction, operation and maintenance of the new lines that will connect Al-Shidiya and Ghor Al-Safi with Aqaba. They are expected to carry 16 million tonnes of phosphate and potash each year.
The joint venture brings together L’imad Holding, the sovereign wealth fund recently launched by Abu Dhabi in the UAE, and Jordanian stakeholders. Etihad Rail of the UAE will lead development of the new network.
The project is part of a $US 5.5bn investment package signed by Jordan and the UAE in November 2023, with a memorandum of understanding (MoU) following in September 2024.
“This railway network will mark a qualitative leap in Jordan’s mining sector by significantly reducing transport costs for phosphate and potash, enhancing our global competitiveness, and creating thousands of jobs for Jordanians,” says Dr Nidal Al-Qatamin, Jordan’s minister of transport.
“This agreement reflects our firm belief that investment in transport infrastructure is the cornerstone of any genuine economic transformation,” says Jassem Mohamed Bu Ataba Al Zaabi, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Finance and CEO of L’imad Holding.
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