Jordan

With residential sales well up so far this year, Jordan’s real estate sector looks to be rebounding from the downturn it experienced during the global economic crisis. Questions remain, however, as to whether the surge can be maintained for the rest of 2011 in the face of rising interest rates and a possible end to state-backed incentives.

A $5bn railway plan to transform Jordan into a centre for regional trade and commerce received a major boost recently when the Islamic Development Bank (IDB) announced that it is in talks with global financial institutions to fund the mega-project.

The Gulf Cooperation Council’s (GCC) warm reception of Jordan’s membership application to join the wealthy six-member bloc could have a positive impact on the kingdom’s economy.

Jordan’s farmers have been offered the chance to rebuild a long lost export market as Saudi Arabia gets set to resume imports of a range of the kingdom’s produce. However, with the role played by agriculture in the Jordanian economy dwindling over the past 50 years and competition for scarce water resources getting more intense, local growers may only be able to reap a limited harvest from Riyadh’s new open door policy.

Jordan has begun ramping up efforts to increase foreign investment into the kingdom and is looking farther afield than usual to do it. With the IMF revising down its economic growth projection for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region from 4.6% in January to 4.1% on April 11, Jordan has held meetings with business leaders from the US, Russia, China and even Azerbaijan in the last month to encourage investment. The IMF also predicted that Jordan’s economic growth this year would be 3.3%, down from its October 2010 estimate of 4.2%.

Investors on the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) received a much-needed fillip recently when the government announced plans to step in to help some local companies that are facing financial difficulties.