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identified the budgets that would be needed...the excitingpart is on the supply side; we need mega projects to producenew sources of energy, water and new transport modalities...We are converting these challenges into investment opportu-nities in a public-private partnership with the government."

As Minister of lndustry and Trade, Amer Al Hadidi, explains,almost 85o/o of all registered investments are in the industrialsector, which is the driver of growth in the country, along withtourism, medical tourism and lCT.

"We realized that a small country of just over 5 million inhab-itants, such as Jordan, would never become a main invest-ment destination by itself as the market is not big enough.What we have done, however, is establlsh ourselves as a hubfor serving the rest of the region. So if you come to Jordanand invest, you don't just look at our inhabitants, but at themillions within the region we supply."The main challenge, according to Minister Hadidi, is the

country's susceptibility to fluctuations in energy prices. "We

currently import about 96% of our energy, and are nowembarking on a few projects through whlch we will start shift-ing our status of receiver to that of an energy exporter. Ourstrategy is based around renewable and nuclear energies."

For Jordan's Central Bank governor, Umayya Toukah, thecountry's economic robustness is due to having the rightregulatory framework. "There is lots of interest in Jordantoday and also in our regulatory role as a sovereign bank, as

well as our monetary policy, because we had to address the

sudden dramatic r

decline in qlobal I

demand. r

I"We slashed I

interest rates to '

2o/o, which is where ,

ii:t

it stands today." : AmerAl Hadidi I ' Walid l. Kurdi

As Jawad Hadid

of the pioneering :

and highly successful Jordan Commercial Bank-its averageprofitability grew from U.S.S94.4 million in 2005, to U.S.S128

million in 2009-points out: "ln Jordan, you know you arecoming to a sound, safe banking sector... We are better lever-aging our country and what it has to offer. You only have tolook at the expansion and upgrading of the hotel industry and

the tourism progress belng made at the Dead Sea to see this."

!:,,ill: r,t. I i*: r,t jriil

While Jordan may lack the oil of lts neighbor Saudi Arabia,phosphate productlon is now a huge industry, thanks iothe privatization in 2006 of the Jordan Phosphate Mines

Company PLC. ln the rags-to-riches tale, JPMC managed toclaw itself back from the brink of almost perpetual loss tocelebrate a profit of U.S.5395 million in 2008 and U.S.5130

million in 2009."There are many factors which led to this achievement.,

best highlighted by ensuring job security for all employees,

l.

Expansion through growthSpearheading innovation and growth across the globalphosphate industry, Jordan Phosphate Mines Co.(JPMC) is the world's sixth largest producer t#q;+.:of the precious mineral. As part of its strategic -q'll

development, JPIVIC is expanding operations andproduction via several joint ventures as it builds onits outstandlng success since privatization.

Jordan Phosphate Mines Co.

5 Al-Shareef Al.Radi, Al Shmelsani, Amman, JordanPhone: +962 656977 95 Fax: +96265606714info@1pmc.com.jo ] www.jordanphosphate.com

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