AMMAN - An updated feasibility study on a government-led mega-project to invest in Sudanese agricultural lands has been finalised, Minister of Agriculture Saeed Masri said on Saturday.
"The study was expected to be sent to the Cabinet last week, however, the change of government put it on hold. We are optimistic about the project and we believe that it will soon see the light of day," Masri told The Jordan Times over the phone yesterday.
He noted that the government is considering a proposal by a regional private sector company to participate in the project.
"We have been officially contacted by a financing and agricultural company based in the [Arab] Gulf, which showed interest in taking part in the Sudan project," Masri said, stopping short of naming the potential partner.
In a previous statement to The Jordan Times, Masri said the main challenge facing the project's implementation is securing the required funds for infrastructure. The government's decision to go ahead with the project hinges on the findings of the feasibility study, which will determine the financial needs of the agricultural project, he said.
In early October, Masri stated that the Sudanese government intended to take back the land allocated for the mega-project, some 87,000 dunums, if Jordan did not implement it by the end of that month, more than a decade after the original deal was signed.
Sudan has yet to cancel the project, however, and Masri said yesterday the ministry has received "positive indications" from the Sudanese embassy in Amman that the Khartoum is considering a one-year extension of the deadline.
The feasibility of the project, which entails Jordan cultivating agricultural products near the Nile to be shipped directly to the Kingdom's markets, needed to be reviewed due to the economic climate, according to the ministry.
The government conducted a $359,000 feasibility study on the project in 2003, funded by the Islamic Bank in Jeddah.
Citing the findings of that study, ministry officials have said that yields from the project would provide the Kingdom with at least 60 per cent of its annual needs of meat, 100 per cent of clover, 40 per cent of garlic, 100 per cent of bananas and 100 per cent of mangos.
By Hani Hazaimeh
© Jordan Times 2009
