Jordan

While growth in Jordan picked up pace in 2013, the external environment continues to weigh on the economy and could slow recovery in 2014.

Strong relationships with allied nations and international financial institutions are paying handsome dividends for Jordan, with multiple entities extending considerable new funding in the form of aid, easy credit and/or investment.

Following the choice of a Russian consortium to build Jordan’s first nuclear power plant, the government hopes it will help alleviate problems far beyond the obvious ones in the kingdom’s energy sector.

Plans to build a new desalination plant on the Gulf of Aqaba are moving forward. While critics argue that the $1bn project, which aims to address a chronic water shortage and save the shrinking Dead Sea, is expensive and potentially damaging, advocates insist the need to proceed couldn’t be clearer.

The property market in Jordan is picking up, with a rise in the volume of transactions this year. Prices are also increasing, which whilst good news for investors, may exacerbate an already existing shortage of affordable housing for low- and middle-income residents.

A confluence of factors is opening opportunities for Jordanian garment manufacturers in their bid to win a greater share of Western clothing markets.