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Business
Scene
JORDAN (Star) - * France Telecom will increase its shares of Jordan
Telecom Co by 3 percent later this year. The move follows a government decision
to put up 10 percent of its shares on the market in October. Finance Minister
Michel Marto said earlier the government wants to sell 15 percent of its JTC shares
to the private sector. The government owns 52 percent of JTC, while France Telecom
(part of a consortium with Arab Bank) owns 40 percent. If the deal goes ahead
it would give France Telecom a majority on JTC's board of directors. The company
suffered a 23 percent decline in profits in 2001, some JD 46 million, but still
earned JD 309.2 million in 2001. The company enjoys exclusivity in providing fixed
lines and Internet infrastructure until December 2004.
* The Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) is working on different projects in East
Amman estimated at JD 45 million. These include rehabilitating existing infrastructure
and building new public facilities. A new JD 7 million housing project is being
discussed at the municipality to build 4000 units for low-income families. GAM
is expected to earn JD 6 million from taxes out of the JD 71 million Amman's inhabitants
will pay to the municipality this year.
* The Ministry of Water is allocating JD 10 million for the rehabilitation of
the Jerash water network. This comes in addition to projects worth JD 3.5 million
that the ministry is working on to improve water infrastructure in Jerash. The
Minister of Water, Hazem Al Nasser, said the ministry is planning to increase
water investment to JD 2 billion by 2010. These investments target water networks
and reservoirs around the Kingdom.
* Jordan's national carrier, Royal Jordanian continues to look for better strategic
partners to strengthen its international network. Samer Majali, RJ's CEO, said
the carrier intends to establish a strong marketing alliance to increase its competitiveness
in world markets. The carrier will receive new planes, Airbus 340's, in the coming
months to enhance services in the region. RJ is expected to suffer a 3 percent
loss from its JD 250 million operational costs, expected to be JD 7.5 million.
* The Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority approved the establishment of five
commercial centers worth JD 140 million. These "malls" in the zone will be built
by local investors on 180,000 square meters. The authority also approved the building
of a branch of the American University at a cost of $175 million on the southern
coast of Aqaba. In the first quarter of 2002 the authority earned JD 2 million
from sales tax. It expects that number to reach JD 8 million by the end of this
year.
* About 36,000 tourists visited Petra this year, a third of which originated from
Arab countries. These tourists contributed $375,000 to the local economy. In the
first four months of last year revenues of visitors to Petra were more than JD
1.2 million. The Ministry of Tourism is launching a program to assist hotels and
restaurants in Petra to overcome losses and offset sluggishness in Jordan's tourism
sector. Part of the program is to reschedule the debts of Petra's hotels.
* A new factory for producing biotic gas is currently in operations in the Russeifeh
area. The $4 million factory built two years ago produces gas from organic waste,
which it receives from shops and restaurants in the area. It consumes around 40
tons of waste per day. The factory was funded by the UN Development Program, the
Global Environment Fund and the Danish government.
June 01, 2002
Sources :
The Star |
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