The UAE has signed an agreement to begin a major railway project in Jordan.
Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Presidential Court, on Wednesday witnessed the signing of a deal for the Aqaba Port Railway Project which will bring joint investment valued at about $2.3 billion.
He met Jordanian Prime Minister Jafar Hassan at Qasr Al Watan in Abu Dhabi to witness the signing, which establishes a joint Emirati-Jordanian company to build the railway.
The two men also discussed the broader partnership between their two nations, state news agency Wam reported.
It will involve the construction of a 360km railway linking Aqaba to Jordan’s phosphate and potash mines by two main routes serving the production sites in Al Shidiya and Ghor Al Safi.
It is considered the first step in building a national railway network for Jordan, to improve the country’s connectivity with neighbouring Arab countries and link the port of Aqaba with Syria and the Mediterranean.
The project is an extension of the $5.5 billion joint investment agreement signed by the two nations at the end of 2023 in the presence of President Sheikh Mohamed and Jordan’s King Abdullah II.
It is hoped the project will provide a major boost to the mining sector through a direct link between mines and ports, reducing transport costs and improving the efficiency of supply.
The project will solve major transport problems associated with potash and phosphate, Jordan's two main exports, a business executive briefed on the project said. The products are separately produced by two monopolies in which the Jordanian government owns large stakes.
The new railway will replace a congested road from Ghor Al Safi, in the Jordan Valley, to Aqaba, along which potash is currently transported by lorry, and an old rail line used to move phosphate export cargo from Al Shidiya, in the south, to the port.
One half of the project is owned by the Jordan Phosphate Mining Company, Jordan's Arab Potash company, the Jordanian government investment management company Musahamat, and the kingdom's Social Security Fund, according to the official Jordanian news agency. The other half is owned by the UAE sovereign investment company L'imad Holding, the agency reported.
A combined 16 million tonnes of phosphate and potash a year will be transported by the railway.
Financial closure for the project is expected by the beginning of 2027, with building set to take five years.
