Prime Minister Dr. Bishr Khasawneh stressed need to drum up joint cooperation and work in a spirit of integration and participation to achieve aspirations of His Majesty King Abdullah II and HRH Crown Prince Al-Hussein bin Abdullah II to take advantage of Aqaba’s potentials and privileges to become among the world’s 100 top cities. Touring Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) on Thursday, PM met with the authority’s Board of Commissioners and the port governorate’s officials, as part of his field tours and inspection visits to development and service projects and official institutions in Aqaba. During the meeting, PM stressed need to build on achievements made so far in Aqaba, under the King’s direct supervision and Crown Prince’s close follow-up. PM also stressed importance of continuing work and effort to achieve the desired goal of making Aqaba a model city by all standards and a hub for attracting tourism, investment, development and value-added industries and provide the “best” services to its residents and visitors. He referred to “remarkable” responsibilities to take advantage of Aqaba’s potentials and advantages to become a regional center for value-added trade activity and industries, as well as tourism, medical tourism, information technology, and other sectors. Khasawneh said: “The government is looking forward to working as one team in an integrative spirit to make Aqaba a model in all aspects and provide the best services to its residents and visitors, in addition to Wadi Rum region, which constitutes a great economic value in the field of tourism, filmmaking and adventure tourism.” Stressing necessity to avoid complacency in public safety measures in the port of Aqaba, PM added that storage of hazardous materials must be in accordance with the highest safety standards, and stressed need to follow up on rectifying any violations in public and private facilities “immediately.” He also affirmed the government’s commitment to preserving the legislative system and facilitating administrative procedures related to investment to attract further investment and preserve existing investments, which would serve national economy and contribute to supporting Aqaba’s local community and the surrounding areas. Meanwhile, ASEZA head, Nayef highlighted the region’s economic and developmental conditions, primarily key projects currently being carried out in the framework of strengthening Aqaba’s position and developing it as an economic destination for value-added investment, tourism, trade and industries. Fayez also noted Aqaba is achieving “good” economic indicators, which are reflected on national economic performance, referring to constant efforts aimed to enhance them in implementation of the directives of His Majesty King Abdullah II and HRH Crown Prince Al-Hussein bin Abdullah II. Governor of Aqaba, Khaled Hajjaj, said all institutions in Aqaba are working in coordination to ensure a “safe and sound” investment and tourism environment.
Source: Jordan News Agency