Jordan and UAE sign $2.3 billion railway project agreement deal initiative

UAE & Jordan – (Web Desk) – Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed, Vice President, Deputy Prime Minister, and Chairman of the Presidential Court, attended the signing of a major agreement on Wednesday for the Aqaba Port Railway Project. The total investment for the project is around $2.3 billion.

He met Jordan’s Prime Minister Jafar Hassan at Qasr Al Watan in Abu Dhabi, where both leaders witnessed the signing ceremony. The agreement will create a joint Emirati-Jordanian company to build and manage the railway project.

During the meeting, both sides also discussed the growing partnership between the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. According to the official news agency Wam, the talks focused on strengthening cooperation in different sectors.

The project will involve building a 360-kilometre railway line. It will connect the port city of Aqaba with Jordan’s phosphate and potash mining areas. The railway will run through two main routes that serve production sites in Al Shidiya and Ghor Al Safi.

This railway is seen as the first major step toward developing a national rail network in Jordan. It is also expected to improve transport links with neighbouring Arab countries and may later connect Aqaba with Syria and the Mediterranean region.

The project builds on a wider investment agreement worth $5.5 billion, which was signed by the two countries at the end of 2023. That earlier deal was signed in the presence of UAE President Sheikh Mohamed and Jordan’s King Abdullah II.

The new railway is expected to greatly support Jordan’s mining industry. By directly connecting mines with the port, it will reduce transport costs and improve overall shipping efficiency.

It will also help solve long-standing transport problems related to potash and phosphate, which are among Jordan’s most important exports. These resources are mainly produced by two large companies in which the Jordanian government holds significant shares.

Currently, potash is transported by trucks on a busy road from Ghor Al Safi in the Jordan Valley to Aqaba. Phosphate is also moved through an old rail line from Al Shidiya in the south to the port. The new railway will replace and modernize these outdated transport routes.

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Ownership of the project is divided between two sides. One half is held by the Jordan Phosphate Mining Company, Arab Potash Company, Jordan’s investment body Musahamat, and the Social Security Fund. The other half is owned by UAE-based L’imad Holding, according to official reports.

The railway will be capable of transporting around 16 million tonnes of phosphate and potash every year, significantly boosting export capacity.

Financial closure for the project is expected by early 2027. Once construction begins, the railway is expected to take about five years to complete.