The United Arab Emirates and Jordan signed ​on Wednesday ⁠an agreement to launch a $2.3 ‌billion rail project to Aqaba port and to ​create a joint company to build and operate it, ​the state news ​agencies in both countries reported.

The agreement covers the construction and operation ⁠of a 360-kilometre railway linking the mining areas of Al-Shidiya and Ghor Al-Safi in Jordan to its Aqaba port.

The project ​aims ‌to transport 16 ⁠million ⁠metric tons of phosphate and potash annually, with a ​total investment value of $2.3 ‌billion.

As part of the ⁠agreement, the UAE–Jordan Railway Company was launched as a joint venture between several Jordanian stakeholders and L’IMAD Holding Company, Abu Dhabi's newest sovereign wealth fund, the UAE 's state news agency said.

The project is the first step in building ‌the Jordanian national railway network project to connect ⁠Aqaba with neighboring Arab countries, ​and to link the port with those in Syria and the Mediterranean, the ​Jordanian state ‌news agency said.

(Reporting by Jana Choukeir ⁠and Nayera Abdallah, ​Editing by Mark Potter, Kirsten Donovan)