Corporate executives within the mining realm have emphasized that Jordan holds immense potential for amplifying the sector’s input to the nation’s fiscal tapestry, bolstering growth trajectories, job creation, global competitiveness, and fostering product and industry diversification. As part of their engagement in the “Investment Horizons in the Mining Sector” panel at the 4th Conference for French-Speaking Business Owners in the Dead Sea on Tuesday, the attendees projected a thriving mining sector in the near future, fueled by rising demand from industrial, agricultural, and technology-driven domains. Currently, the mining sector contributes 2.2 percent of the GDP, amounting to 700 million dinars, with prospects of reaching 2.1 billion dinars within the upcoming decade. Over 9,000 workers, constituting 0.6 percent of the kingdom’s workforce, find employment in the mining sector, with projections anticipating a surge to 27,000 workers in the next ten years. Sector exports currently stand at roughly one billion dinars, with expectations of climbing to 3.4 billion dinars, in line with the economic modernization vision. The conference is orchestrated by the Jordanian Businessmen Association, in collaboration with a consortium of French-speaking entrepreneurs, and boasts the participation of 200 businesspersons, investors, and economic mavens across diverse fields, alongside an array of local, Arab, and global companies and institutions. CEO of the Jordan Phosphate Mines Company (JPMC), Abdul Wahhab Al-Rawad, underscored the mining sector’s prominent role as one of Jordan’s largest industrial sectors, with significant contributions to the national economy. He stressed Jordan’s mineral and natural resource abundance, including phosphates, and revealed that 60 percent of the JPMC’s output is destined for export, while the remainder serves local enterprises. Al-Rawad outlined the company’s clear objectives to boost domestic consumption through manufacturing industries and expansion within the kingdom. He shared the company’s intent to establish partnerships and capitalize on opportunities, particularly with Turkey and India, emphasizing the vast investment potential within the unique Jordanian phosphate sector. Al-Rawad expressed confidence in Jordan’s ability to rank globally in various industries, especially phosphoric acid production. He referenced a study to form a joint manufacturing company with the Arab Potash Company and pledged the Jordanian phosphate company’s commitment to launch the aluminum bromide project. Al-Rawad highlighted the Company’s strong focus on environmental considerations, mentioning the 32-million-dinar rehabilitation of the Rusaifa mines into gardens and the gypsum mountain restoration in Aqaba. He also addressed the phosphate washing process’s high water consumption and shared plans to establish a water recycling project for use in the company’s other industries. Participants stressed the need to incentivize investment in the mining sector, given the abundant mineral resources and the necessity for energy price reviews and incentives. Arab Potash Company CEO, Maen Ensour, confirmed the mining sector’s prominence in the economic modernization vision and noted ongoing collaboration between sector companies and the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to devise a ten-year plan for elevating companies and their contributions to the national economy and profitability. Ensour discussed the pivotal role of Jordanian mining companies in bolstering the national economy, impacting citizens’ living standards, generating employment opportunities, enhancing competitiveness on regional and global scales, and cultivating human capital. He revealed the potash company’s plans to generate knowledge, develop products, manufacture new ones, and penetrate new markets, as Jordan ranks sixth globally in potash production. He shared the company’s intentions to construct a chemical and fertilizer research center in partnership with an American university and attract Jordanian expertise in the field, with an estimated completion timeline of two years. Ensour emphasized the company’s current focus on high-value industries and the imminent announcement of advanced industries reliant on local raw materials.
Source: Jordan News Agency