* Royal Jordanian is to launch twice-weekly flights to Kuala Lumpur, through its decoding agreement with Malaysian Airlines. The latter will market the flights through its agencies worldwide. The Jordanian national carrier will also launch flights to Moscow on 6 May in agreement with Russia's Aeroflot. RJ's CEO Samer Al Majali said the carrier is working on initiating its flights to the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, increasing the carrier's worldwide destinations to 48.

* The Central Bank of Jordan increased its assets in February to JD 4.5 billion. About JD 3.2 billion are in foreign currencies while its gold reserves stand at JD 85.3 million. The bank's liabilities increased this year to more than JD 3 billion, two-thirds of which are local. Credit facilities witnessed a JD 7.4 million decline this year to JD 345.4 million.

* Arab International for Education and Investment (AIEI) earned JD 23 million. The company made JD 7 million in profits-about one-sixth of its 2001 budget estimated at JD 44 million. The company's share-holdings almost doubled to JD 31.6 million, enabling the company's General Assembly to issue a dividend rate of about 20 percent. The AIEI seeks to enhance investments in the educational sector. In 2002, the company is expected to work jointly with the Applied Science University to establish anInternet Service Provider (ISP) facility to give students access to the worldwide web.

* Development projects at the Aqaba Governorate in 2002 are estimated at JD 41.8 million. The projects, conducted jointly by the Aqaba Special Economic Zone and the Ministry of Planning, aim to improve the social and economic infrastructure of the area.

* The merger agreement between the Rum Metal Industries Co and the Aladdin Industries produces a new amalgamation at a JD 5 million capital. The new firm is expected to promote metallic industries in the Kingdom. Share-holdings were settled while reserves increased to JD 1.46 million.

* Irbid Electricity Co has JD 6.4 million allocated for development projects for 2002. These aim to expand the company's working capacity in the northern areas. The company will also link many of the rural areas of Irbid, Jerash and Ajloun with the power network at JD 2 million.

* Trade volume between Jordan and Saudi Arabia stands at JD 210 million. Jordanian exports to Saudi Arabia are JD 95 million, while the Saudi exports to Jordan increased to JD 110.5 million. Over the past three years, Jordan's exports to that Kingdom witnessed rapid decline since 1997-the highest in the past 10 years when Jordan exported JD 141 million worth of goods to the Saudis.

* The Printing and Packaging Co made a net profit of 951.4 thousand in 2001 compared to the figure before that year which is the region of JD 485,000. Company sales in the first quarter of 2002 increased by 38 percent.