A year after UAE, Egypt, and Jordan formed the Industrial Partnership for Sustainable Economic Development to invest in priority sectors, Yousef Al Shamali, Jordan’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply, said the four partner countries would announce a slew of industrial projects worth “millions of dollars” at a meeting in Amman next week.

A $10 billion investment fund, managed by Abu Dhabi holding company ADQ, has been set up to accelerate work on the partnership across five priority sectors, including petrochemicals, agriculture, and metals.

During a session at the ongoing World Government Summit, Omar Al Suwaidi, undersecretary at the Minister of Industry and Advanced Technology, said, “We managed to launch 100-plus projects in such a short period. Several countries have expressed their interest in joining the partnership.” 

The partnership will bolster Arab economic integration enabling the establishment of large joint industrial projects, job opportunities, and economic output while diversifying the economies of the partner countries. 

According to Al Shamali, the trade activity within the region is still low, with consumer goods accounting for a significant portion of the flow. He urged other nations in the region to join the partnership to reap the economic benefits among Arab countries and avoid direct competition. 

Officials said that the industrial partnership is expected to increase the gross domestic product of member countries by $809 billion. In 2019, the UAE, Egypt, Jordan, and Bahrain accounted for 30% of the MENA region’s industrial contribution to the GDP, or $65 billion worth of industrial exports.