Jordan is securing new sources of investment to drive economic growth. CNN’s Eleni Giokos speaks to the Jordanian Minister of Investment to explore how he plans to strengthen investor confidence to shape its economic future.

Amman

Jordan is actively seeking to diversify its sources of investment to drive economic growth, working with both the United States and European partners. Despite fluctuations in foreign aid, the country has secured significant agreements, including a $3 billion deal with European partners and major projects in potash, bromine, and rail infrastructure. The majority of foreign direct investment in Jordan comes from Arab countries, and the government remains focused on maintaining resilience amid regional geopolitical challenges.

Manufacturing and pharmaceuticals are highlighted as key sectors contributing to Jordan's economic development. The manufacturing sector, which includes pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and food, accounts for 17% of GDP and is increasingly export-oriented. Companies like Hikma Pharmaceuticals have established a global presence, with ongoing efforts to develop new products and expand into growing markets such as diabetes-related drugs. Jordan’s strategy includes collaborating with global partners and maintaining high production standards to ensure continued growth and investor confidence.

How Jordan is future-proofing its economy

For years, the United States has been providing Jordan with financial assistance. It's the fourth largest recipient of U.S. aid worldwide. Earlier this year, President Trump froze its U.S. AID contributions before reinstating it within two months. There is a small amount of projects that have been taken away. We respect the U.S. government's decision to do what's better for their interest. And we're working with them on the projects that are a priority, which is water, schools and health. While we're working with the U.S., we're also working with our good partners, the Europeans. We've signed a $3 billion agreement. Out of that agreement, $1.4 billion is about investment. As Jordan branches out to source other inflows, it's important to note that although the country hasn't always seen steady levels of foreign investment, it has seen growth. We're looking forward to a much better year this year, actually. Just the Potash expansion, $1.1 billion in the first half of this year. I mean, we're still in the first half, and we have one project that has $1.1 billion. We have the bromine expansion, which is another few hundreds of millions. We have the national railway in the south of Jordan with our friends and partners, Etihad Rail and UAE, which is $2.3 billion. We're going to close some deals this year, but maybe the inflows will happen next year, but we're working on them. According to the Jordan News Agency, 64.8% of total FDI last year came from Arab countries. You're sitting in an environment geographically where there's so much happening around you. The geopolitical scenarios are changing constantly in the Middle East. Does that worry you? Well, it's a concern, but our leadership has managed to go through this for so many years. We've always managed to stay resilient and capable. We're growing, and we're attracting investments, and we're getting our people an opportunity. Not the opportunities we want right now, but we're on a very clear track towards that destination. What would you say the star sector is right now that's really making an impact on the overall economy? Manufacturing is something that the global economy is looking at. I mean, the U.S. is trying to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. because it's something that creates more resilience in the economy, and we have what it takes to compete. Currently, the manufacturing is 17% in the GDP, and it's diversified. It has pharma, food, chemicals. Now we import only 20%. There are Jordanian brands that are being exported to the region and to the globe that are locally manufactured. Do you know that the cooling for NASA, NVIDIA, META is made in Jordan? Last year, Jordan exported goods worth $3.4 billion to the United States. That's a 15.4% increase from 2023. In fact, back in the mid-1990s, Jordan's own Hikma Pharmaceuticals became the first drug company in the Arab world to obtain FDA approval in the United States. I think the most important thing about Hikma is that how we have been able to how we have been instrumental in developing new norms of health care practices in this part of the world. We started in the MENA, but today MENA is only one third of the group. Jordan, actually, in particular, is half percent of our group in terms of sales. But we use Jordan as a base. It's our back office. Founded in Amman and now listed on the London Stock Exchange, Hikma Pharmaceuticals produces injectables and oral generic medicines for patients across North America, Europe and the MENA region. I want to talk about all sort of diabetes-related drugs, you know, the weight loss issue. And that could be a real boon for you. That could be a real growth point for you. What's happening in terms of R&D, in terms of patents around the world, in terms of R&D, in terms of patents around that? And how excited are you about this specific sector? This is actually a growth trajectory market. We're looking at it. We have a couple of products on the pipeline. It's not going to be developed internally. We're talking to partners, global partners, and developing it simultaneously together. A generic version. A generic version. Some of them are even better than what's available now. There are things that you can take once every three months or once every month instead of every week. Or you can take an oral product. This is a market that's growing. If you look at the global market, you see it's taking a big chunk of the market. Are you worried about the tariff confrontations that we're seeing globally? Is that going to affect your business in any way? In the US, our sales are around $2 billion, OK? 70% of our sales in the US are produced in the US. We're the only company, actually, if you look at it, between global companies, generic and non-generic, that has a footprint of 70% production in the US. This is a high number. And we're very proud of that. You know, when everybody was moving to India and to China, we were going to the US and everybody was telling us, are you crazy? Who goes to the US? It's the most expensive market to manufacture. And we always say, no, we want the highest standard. We want to be on the forefront. And this is why we invested in the US.

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