Jordan Aviation Diamond Sponsor of First International Transport Conference and Exhibition in Middle East

Jordan Aviation, believing in the importance of this gathering of transport, government and private sector, decision makers and the importance of the role of transportation in accelerating the pace of development in the Middle East will be participating as the Diamond Sponsor.

Commenting on this participation, Captain Mohammad Al khashman, Chairman/CEO of Jordan Aviation, said:

"This conference is of great importance as it is being held under difficult global and regional conditions as a result of the global financial crisis, the crisis that began affecting the global economy is remarkable. Data suggest that the global economy is moving from slowdown to recession which will have an impact on all sectors of the economy, commodity, service, investment and finance."

Captain Al khashman is hopeful that the transport industry decision makers in the area will take necessary measures to escape the repercussions of the global financial crisis and move forward in the implementation of modernization projects and in upgrading the transport industry which is the main artery in any development process.

"Jordan over the past decade invested well in the development of the transport sector, increasing the efficiency of its roads network, the logistics networks, yet, Jordan, like many other countries in the region still needs more efforts and projects, both in infrastructure, and partnerships between government and private sector to maximize the value added in the overall economic development where the transportation industry will act as a catalyst and as a main engine for sustainable development," Al khashman added.

He stressed that Jordan continues to implement a clear strategic plan to develop the transport sector, and in order to achieve this a number of investment opportunities in the transport sector has been presented, including the railway, like the launching of light railway projects between the major cities in the Kingdom. Jordan looks forward to the completion of rail link with the surrounding countries, particularly Syria and Iraq, to form an important assistant, and a vital factor in linking the economies of countries in the region to increase exchanges and the development of interdependence at the regional level.

The airport projects are priority projects in the Kingdom; such as the expansion of Queen Alia International Airport, a cargo airport in the Jordan Valley and one in Al Mafrak economic development zone, Jordan also invested in training of manpower. It now has a large number of specialists in this area. They are an important nucleus that can not be ignored in supporting the development of the transport industry in the Arabian Gulf and the Middle East in general.

He explained that these projects create economical, viable investment opportunities with great benefits for investors, and the economies of the region, and perhaps emphasize the versions available for the project in these investments, particularly (BOT) which is a good entry for investors as well as the future of the economies of the host countries for these projects. A vivid example of such projects would be building passengers' and freight's stations or airports, in Egypt which is carried out by the Kuwaiti Khurafi Group.

In the areas of shipping and supporting facilities such as modern warehouses and facilities, Jordan suggested the transfer and the development of the port of Aqaba projects in accordance with international standards, and theses projects are considered to be of the largest investment opportunities on the current and long terms.

It should be noted that there is still an opportunity for further investments in this vital sector because of high demand and limited shipping fleets of maritime transport in the region.

Captain khashman stressed that the air transport industry in the region has one of the highest growth rates, and that the magic key to the advancement of the industry is to open skies for aviation. Jordan, well located and enjoying political stability and security, which is the grindstone for the development process, will see Great changes in its aviation scene.

He stressed that the region needs more than the currently operating fleets of aircraft for passengers, cargo, and air taxi. Airlines in the region have signed large contracts for Aircraft purchases we have great challenges to meet these benefits.

"The building of land roads between the States of the region in accordance with the highest international standards, and building efficient ports and borders to serve transportation as well as the infrastructure, storing facilities, in addition to regional rail link and cooperation between ports and airports, all together constitute an integrated system to lead the overall development engine," he said. "This is what we will look into and talk about during the international conference and exhibition for the first transfer in the Middle East on 23rd, 24th of November."