meed-logo

line1 line2 line3
SIGN IN / REGISTER

PPP schemes to drive Jordan construction

13 June 2025

 

There is cause for optimism in Jordan’s construction and infrastructure sectors after the government took steps to implement its Economic Modernisation Vision (EMV) 2023-25.

The EMV – Amman’s flagship vehicle for its reform proposition – aims to increase average real income per capita by 3% a year, create 1 million jobs and more than double the country’s GDP over 10 years. The programme calls for the private sector to take the lead, accounting for 73% of the total $58.8bn of required investment.

For the vision to be realised, a large pipeline of public-private partnership (PPP) schemes is needed, covering areas such as water desalination, school construction, clean energy, green hydrogen, transport improvement and road construction.

Earlier this year, the PPP unit at Jordan’s Ministry of Investment announced that it is targeting seven key PPP projects in 2025.

Construction projects

One of the primary components of the PPP initiative is the scheme to build 17 schools under a PPP model. Being overseen by the Ministry of Education, the scheme will be developed using a design, build, finance, operate, maintain and transfer model and will be undertaken in several phases across the country.

The UAE-backed Marsa Zayed mixed-use project in Aqaba is the other large-scale construction scheme that has made a head start this year and is expected to provide opportunities in the short term. In February this year, Abu Dhabi’s AD Ports Group selected Dubai-based real estate developer Mag Group to lead the first phase of the project, which is called Riviera Heights.

The scheme will be developed as a beachfront resort and residential community on the Red Sea coast in Aqaba and will cover an area of 3.2 million square metres. The first phase comprises four residential towers, a marina with 1,260 residential and 117 retail units, a hotel and hotel apartments with a beach club, an old souq marketplace with 50 retail shops, a yacht club and a visitors’ centre. It also includes the restoration of Aqaba’s minaret.

The other major project progressing in Jordan is the second phase of the Abdali mixed-use project in Amman. In May, the client announced that it had started the infrastructure work for the second phase, paving the way for the project to move forward. 

The second phase is expected to include constructing a multi-use conference centre that can accommodate 25,000 people, as well as two towers housing hotels, residential apartments, commercial centres and advanced medical facilities.

Infrastructure improvements

Jordan is also developing some major infrastructure schemes in the country, most on a PPP basis. The most prominent is the construction of a phosphate railway line, which is being developed by the UAE’s Etihad Rail.

The detailed study on the railway alignment and requirements for handling potash and phosphate is expected to be completed by the end of this year, followed by the main contract tenders early next year.

In September last year, Etihad Rail announced that it had signed a memorandum of understanding worth $2.3bn with Jordan’s Transport Ministry and local companies to develop the project on a build, operate and maintain basis.

The other significant project out in the market is the new silica terminal in Aqaba. In May, Jordan’s Aqaba Development Corporation set 25 May as the deadline for firms to express interest in developing the project. 

The project will be developed on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis with a 20-year concession period.

For airports, a key move came in February, when Jordan extended Airport International Group’s BOT concession of Queen Alia International airport until 2039. The agreement is a crucial step in securing long-term investments in the airport’s infrastructure, expansion and operations.

Some of the key projects that will be undertaken to boost the airport’s passenger capacity to 18 million annually include installing nine security gates, upgrading the water supply, enhancing security checkpoints, developing a solar farm and conducting studies for runway rehabilitation.

Another major project that is currently in the market is the construction of a light rail between Amman and Zarqa, which will extend to Queen Alia International airport. 

In July last year, Jordan’s Hejaz Railway Corporation issued a tender to conduct a feasibility study for the project. The rail line will have a length of about 65 kilometres and the capacity to transport 40,000-50,000 passengers daily.

Other infrastructure PPP schemes that Jordan says it is negotiating this year include the development of the 15.82km-long King Abdullah II Road, the 14.7km-long Amman-Ajloun toll road, the rehabilitation and toll operation of the first segment of the 42km Amman Development Corridor, a bus rapid transit project and the King Hussein bridge land border crossing terminal project.

On the back of these schemes, the short-term outlook for Jordan’s construction infrastructure market will be buoyed by a confluence of positive opportunities that promise to invigorate what have been largely dormant construction and infrastructure sectors in the past decade. 

With the government’s commitment to large-scale infrastructure and construction projects, there is a renewed sense of optimism among investors and stakeholders. The anticipated influx of foreign direct investment, coupled with strategic partnerships in public-private ventures, is set to create a ripple effect that will stimulate job creation and enhance Jordan’s economy.

MEED’s July 2025 report on Jordan also includes: 

> ECONOMY: Jordan economy nears inflection point
> GAS: Jordan pushes ahead with gas plans
> WATER: Record-breaking year for Jordan’s water sector

https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14065176/main.gif
Yasir Iqbal

Register for MEED's guest program now to access this article.

Click here to register
Exclusive from Meed
Related Articles
  • Iraq awards Baghdad airport PPP deal

    29 October 2025

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Iraq has awarded a contract to develop Baghdad International airport on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis to a consortium comprising Luxembourg-based Corporacion America Airports (CAAP) and local firm Amwaj International.

    According to local media reports, the estimated $764m contract covers the rehabilitation of airport infrastructure, construction of a new passenger terminal, and operations and maintenance under a 25-year concession.

    In a statement on its website, the Ministry of Transport said the airport’s initial capacity is expected to be around 9 million passengers, gradually increasing to 15 million.

    Iraq’s Ministry of Transport and General Company for Airports & Air Navigation Services received the bids earlier this month, MEED reported.

    The bidding consortium included:

    • Asyad Holding / Top International Engineering Corporation / Lamar Holding / YDA Insaat / Dublin Airport Authority (Saudi Arabia/Saudi Arabia/Saudi Arabia/Turkiye/Ireland) 
    • Corporacion America Airports / Amwaj International (Luxembourg/Iraq)
    • ERG International / Terminal Yapi / ERG Insaat (UK/Turkiye/Turkiye)

    The media report added that the winning consortium offered the government 43.05% of total airport revenues.

    The Asyad-led consortium offered 38.05%.

    The ERG International-led consortium was disqualified from the bidding process.

    The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is the project’s lead transaction adviser.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14971278/main.jpg
    Yasir Iqbal
  • Saudi Electricity Company secures $3bn financing deal

    29 October 2025

    Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) has signed a $3bn financing agreement with a consortium of international banks at the Future Investment Initiative Forum (FII9) in Riyadh.

    The financing comes as SEC continues to expand its project portfolio to meet rising electricity demand. In September, SEC outlined plans to invest SR220bn ($58.7bn) in power projects between 2025 and 2030.

    This includes SR135bn ($36bn) and SR85bn ($22.7bn) for transmission and distribution, respectively, and is part of long-term plans to meet growing electricity demand while improving grid efficiency and reliability.

    The financing partners include the UAE's Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank, Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank, Dubai Islamic Bank and Emirates NBD.

    Also included are Bank of East Asia (Hong Kong), Bank of China, Barclays (UK), China Construction Bank, HSBC (UK), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (China), ING (Netherlands) and Mega Bank (Taiwan)

    The state-controlled utility, majority-owned by the Public Investment Fund (PIF), has dominated procurement activity in the power sector in 2025, awarding approximately $6bn-worth of contracts.

    This has been led by two standalone projects in Dawadmi and Riyadh, each with a capacity of 500MW/2,000MWh and an estimated value of about $600m.

    The utility continues to advance other major developments including the PP13 and PP14 combined-cycle gas turbine (CCGT) power plants in Riyadh. In October, it signed $3.4bn in offtake deals for the plants, which have a total capacity of 3,356MW.

    It also recently reached financial close for Saudi Arabia’s Qurayyah CCGT independent power project (IPP) expansion.

    SEC will develop, finance, build, own and operate the 3,010MW plant as part of a consortium with Saudi Arabia's Acwa Power and Hajj Abdullah Alireza & Company (Haaco).

    Alongside its financing agreement, SEC launched a new Supply Chain Financing Programme during FII9 in partnership with local fintech Manafa and US-headquartered SAP Taulia, supported by the Saudi Industrial Development Fund.

    The initiative aims to improve liquidity across the energy supply chain and enable suppliers to access fast financing at more competitive rates.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14971266/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall
  • Design work completed for $1bn Libyan pipeline

    29 October 2025

     

    Front-end engineering and design (feed) work has been completed for the major oil pipeline that will extend from oil fields in the south of Libya to the oil export terminal of Es Sider, according to industry sources.

    Libya’s Waha Oil Company, a subsidiary of state-owned National Oil Corporation (NOC), is developing the pipeline.

    The 700-kilometre pipeline will have a diameter of 32 inches and the capacity to transport 1 million barrels a day (b/d) of oil.

    One source said: “It is crucial that the existing pipeline is replaced. The existing pipeline is suffering frequent leaks and cannot handle higher pressures.

    “In 1960, when the pipeline was installed, the pipe thickness was 36mm, but it is now so worn out that this has been reduced to around 8mm across much of the pipeline. In some spots, it is even less than 8mm.

    “Production cannot be increased at the oil field due to this ageing facility.”

    Waha is preparing to eventually tender an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract for the project, which is estimated to have a value of between $1bn and $1.25bn.

    Although the pipeline’s actual usage is unlikely to exceed 300,000 b/d for some time after its completion, it is being designed to be ready for a significant increase in oil production from Libya’s southern oil fields.

    It is unclear when Waha plans to issue an invitation to bid for the project’s EPC contract.

    In 2012, Waha announced a project to replace key oil pipelines in Libya, but funding issues delayed the timeline and invitations to bid were never issued.

    In January 2024, MEED reported that Waha was considering plans to boost its production by 1 million b/d.

    At the time, the subsidiary was producing about 300,000 b/d.

    Earlier this month, NOC announced that the country’s crude oil production had reached 1,383,430 barrels a day (b/d).

    The company said that natural gas production was 2,519 million cubic feet a day (cf/d), while condensate production was 49,013 b/d.

    NOC said it aimed to further increase production capacity to approximately 1.6 million cf/d by 2026.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14970171/main.jpg
    Wil Crisp
  • Qatari firm tenders Oman gabbro mining works

    29 October 2025

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Qatar Primary Materials Company (QPMC) has issued a tender for additional works at its gabbro mining development in the Khatmat Milaha area of Oman, close to a border crossing with the UAE.

    The broad scope of work involves the remaining works for two gabbro quarries and the construction of an export jetty at Khatmat Milaha, state-owned QPMC, also known as Al-Awalia, said in the tender notice.

    Firms have until 11 November to submit bids for the tender, QPMC said.

    QPMC owns a 3 million tonne‑a‑year (t/y) gabbro quarry at Khatmat Milaha in Oman, which is understood to have been commissioned in 2020. The quarry has an expandable capacity of 7 million t/y.

    The Omani quarry project had been planned for a number of years. In 2015, QPMC signed an agreement with Belgian firm Rent-A-Port to start work on the Khatmat Milaha quarry project.

    Rent-A-Port was the consultant for QPMC’s gabbro port in Qatar. A joint venture of Denmark’s FLSmidth and Sixco completed the estimated QR1.6bn ($430m) contract to build the aggregate berths in 2017. 

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14968152/main2817.jpg
    Indrajit Sen
  • Kuwait forms project company for Al-Zour North expansion

    29 October 2025

    Register for MEED’s 14-day trial access 

    Kuwait has formally established a new public shareholding company to manage the next stages of the Al-Zour North independent water and power plant (IWPP).

    The Gulf Alliance for Power & Water Company will be responsible for the construction, implementation, management, operation and maintenance of Al-Zour North IWPP phases two and three.

    The Al-Zour North phases two and three IWPP involves constructing a 2,700MW power plant and a 120-million-imperial-gallon-a-day desalination facility. The project’s total estimated value is approximately $4bn.

    In August, Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power and Kuwait-based financial institution Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) signed a contract to develop the project, which will be the country’s largest IWPP.

    The consortium of Acwa Power and GIC will hold 40% of the project company through Al-Zour Kuwaiti Second & Third Holding Company.

    The Public-Private Partnership Authority will hold 10% on behalf of government entities, while 50% will be offered to Kuwaiti citizens through a public subscription process.

    Al-Zour North IWPP phases two and three is owned by the Kuwait Authority for Partnership Projects (Kapp) and the Ministry of Electricity, Water & Renewable Energy.

    It will be developed under a build-operate-transfer model with a 25-year offtake agreement.

    Sepco3 is the EPC contractor for the project.

    The project company has been set up with an authorised and issued capital of KD197.032m ($639m).

    This capital is divided into 1.97 billion shares, each with a nominal value of 100 fils. The paid-up capital at the time of establishment is KD49.2m.

    https://image.digitalinsightresearch.in/uploads/NewsArticle/14963914/main.jpg
    Mark Dowdall