Chairman of Jordan Chamber of Commerce Nael Raja Al Kabariti
DOHA: Qatar and Jordan bilateral cooperation in the field of trade and investment is robust and growing fast. With the combined investment of over $2bn (QR7.28bn), Qatar has emerged as the third largest investor in the Hashemite Kingdom, said a prominent Jordanian businessman.
Both the nations are working aggressively to boost the bilateral cooperation, and are likely to make huge investments in a joint logistics project in Qatar which will significantly improve and facilitate the movement of goods across the region.
“We are working on several areas to enhance bilateral cooperation. The private sector usually avoids talking about something until they reach to the final stage. However, what I can say that we are going to announce some joint projects very soon. We are in the final rounds of discussions on the proposed projects. It is related to logistics sector in Qatar, which will see a very large investment,” Chairman of Jordan Chamber of Commerce Nael Raja Al Kabariti told The Peninsula.
Al Kabariti, who was here leading a high level trade mission, added: “We aim at building the bridge between Jordan and Qatar in terms of cooperation in the field of economics, trade and investment. Today, the relation between Qatar and Jordan is one of the best from the private sector point of view. Qatar’s investment in Jordan is the third largest among all the countries.”
He said that Qatar’s investment in Jordan is significant in the field of banking and real estate sector, but it is rapidly growing and diversifying in other promising industries of the Jordanian economy, including power sector.
For instance, Nebras Power (Nebras), a subsidiary of Qatar Electricity and Water Company and Qatar Holding, has invested heavily in Jordan’s electricity and renewable power. Nebras, the multi-billion riyal Doha-based company has invested in four power projects in Jordan, which are providing over 700MW to the electricity grid of Jordan, contributing to the steady growth in energy demand and the stabilisation of the energy sector in the country.
Senator Al Kabariti, a prominent businessman and a member of the upper house of the Jordanian parliament, said that while both sides are working to increase the trade volume between the two countries, we are also looking forward to increase the value of Jordanian investments in Qatar. Jordanian companies are working in almost every sector of the Qatari economy and expanding.
Commenting on the prospects of restoring the land route between Qatar and Jordan via Saudi Arabia, he added that as of now the route cannot be re-established as it depends on some other country’s decision. “But we are lucky that some common friends, such as Kuwait and Oman, who extended their support to restore the supply line. We are using their ports to re-export the Jordanian goods to Qatar. We are also importing Qatari goods from the same route, which including the pharmaceutical products by Qatar Pharma. The cost is relatively higher, but at the end of the day we like to keep the bridge alive.”
