AQABA - UAE-based Al Maabar Investment Company said Monday it will carry on with its JD10 billion project "Marsa Zayed" in Aqaba to develop almost 3.2 million square metres, including two kilometres of waterfront.
"We are here to implement the project. We want to be a model of success," Al Maabar board member Yousef Al Nowais told reporters during a press conference held in Aqaba.
The company organised a one-day tour for the press to visit the site and inspect progress of work there.
The contractor working on rehabilitating the site for further infrastructure work said the project is moving forward according to the preset schedule.
"We started work on the site two months ago and we will be able to hand over the location before the deadline," said Qahtan Hadadeen, director of Ahmad Tarawneh and Partner Company, the local contractor who won the tender to prepare the site for future construction work.
"We are pleased to work in such huge project," Hadadeen said, indicating that local contractors are capable to carry out such jobs.
Al Maabar focused from the start of its commercial activities in Jordan on means to benefit local businesses, Al Nowais said, noting that the company seeks to employ Jordanians in all phases of its projects.
The project is expected to create around 15,000 job opportunities, Al Nowais indicated.
According to Al Maabar officials, the project is the biggest real estate and tourism scheme in Jordan with several aspects to serve the Jordanian special character.
Several marinas will add to the current berthing capacity, which will transform Aqaba into a premier yachting destination; in addition to a state of-the-art cruise ship terminal, which will become one of Jordan's tourism landmarks and a welcoming gateway to Aqaba.
Al Maabar started its work on the site at the beginning of the year, Mohammed Turk, director of the Aqaba Development Corporation, the investment arm of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Area (ASEZA) said.
Although the project is going through phases, it is progressing according to a preset schedule, Turk added.
UAE Ambassador to Jordan Abdullah Al Amri described the project as an example of the mutual cooperation between the two countries.
He announced that the UAE industry minister will visit Jordan in the next couple of weeks and will pave the way for future economic cooperation stressing that "there is a strategy focusing on investment, trade and industry".
© Jordan Times 2011
