Preparations Underway to Establish Economic City on Iraqi-Jordanian Borders

Yanal Nawaf Al-Barmawy, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Iraqi-Jordanian Company for Industry. (ONA)
Yanal Nawaf Al-Barmawy, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Iraqi-Jordanian Company for Industry. (ONA)
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Preparations Underway to Establish Economic City on Iraqi-Jordanian Borders

Yanal Nawaf Al-Barmawy, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Iraqi-Jordanian Company for Industry. (ONA)
Yanal Nawaf Al-Barmawy, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Iraqi-Jordanian Company for Industry. (ONA)

The Iraqi-Jordanian Company for Industry announced an open international tender to build a joint economic city on the border between the two countries.

The company added that the developer will finance, implement, manage, invest, promote and operate the planned economic city and maintain its facilities.

Yanal Nawaf Al-Barmawy, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Company, explained that the project would be built on an area of 22 million square meters allocated from the border lands of Jordan and Iraq, with the aim to enhance bilateral economic cooperation, and contribute to Arab economic integration in a number of fields.

In a statement to Oman News Agency, Barmawy noted that the project seeks to bring about the required development in the eastern regions of Iraq and the western regions of Jordan, reduce unemployment, revitalize the logistical sectors, increase exports, and meet the needs of the two countries’ markets for various commodities.

He also said that the city will be established and developed in three stages, and will include industrial, commercial and logistical components, as well as centers for the promotion of business, finance, education, health, transportation, housing, in addition to construction, infrastructure and green spaces.

Work on the project is expected to begin during the first quarter of 2024.



Syria, World Bank Discuss Tools to Support Syrian Economic Recovery

People wait their turn in a queue outside an ATM in Damascus on April 16, 2025. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
People wait their turn in a queue outside an ATM in Damascus on April 16, 2025. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
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Syria, World Bank Discuss Tools to Support Syrian Economic Recovery

People wait their turn in a queue outside an ATM in Damascus on April 16, 2025. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)
People wait their turn in a queue outside an ATM in Damascus on April 16, 2025. (Photo by LOUAI BESHARA / AFP)

Members of the Syrian government and a delegation from the World Bank discussed in Damascus tools to support Syria's economic recovery, the Syrian foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

Sources told Reuters on Saturday that Syrian officials are planning to attend the annual spring meetings held by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, D.C. this month, which would be the first such visit in at least two decades.

Syria has around $15 million in arrears to the World Bank which must be paid off before the international financial institution can approve grants and provide other forms of assistance.

But Damascus is short of foreign currency and a previous plan to pay off the debts using assets frozen abroad did not materialize, according to two people familiar with the matter.

A technical delegation from the World Bank met with Syria's Finance Minister Mohammed Yosr Bernieh on Monday, according to the Syrian state news agency Sana.
The meeting, which was the first public meeting between the Syrian government and the World Bank, included discussions on strengthening financial and economic ties between the two sides.
Bernieh also highlighted the negative effects of the international sanctions imposed on Syria and policies of the former regime on the country's financial and banking sector.