The Jordanian government has signed a $5-billion deal with a United Arab Emirates firm to develop the kingdom's sole Red Sea port of Aqaba, the local press reported on Sunday. “The three-phase project will cost five billion dollars, create around 15,000 jobs and boost tourism in Aqaba,” Hosni Abu Ghida, president of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA), told the state-run Petra news agency. Under the project, expected to be completed after five years, the UAE's Al-Maabar real estate company will relocate Aqaba's port facilities to the southern part of the city and expand them, Petra said. ASEZA was established in 2003 as a low-tax economic zone as a way of attracting business to the port. “Such investments will develop tourism in Aqaba and enhance economic development,” said Salah Al-Kilani, who heads ASEZA's investment and economic development arm. Al-Maabar, established in 2007, is already working on projects in Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, Sudan and Egypt. In 2006, Jordan signed a deal with Lebanese company Horizon Development Holdings to create a $5-billio tourist city in Aqaba, including homes, offices, luxury hotels, gardens and cultural centers. __
