Yemen, Oman top Jordan’s market

Investors from Yemen and Oman have ranked among top investors in the real estate market in July this year, accounting for 10 per cent of the overall real estate trading volume. According to a report by the Land and Survey Department, Yemeni and Omani investors outranked Kuwaiti and American investors. Iraqi investors remained among the leading investors followed by investors from Saudi Arabia. Also, Syrian investors have been among the top five investors in real estate sector since the beginning of the year. In terms of the investment volume, Iraq ranked first at 19.4 million dinars ($27.16 million) while Saudi Arabia ranked second at 5.5 million dinars, followed by Yemeni investors whose investment volume totalled 1.7 million dinars. Syrian and Omani investors came next at  1.4 million  dinar and 1.3 million dinars respectively. Jordan has taken several measures to liberalise its economy and implement free zones to help attract foreign direct investment (FDI). Although it faces challenges in its efforts to compete with other emerging markets for investment, Jordan’s ability to attract FDI has risen in recent years and it is developing a strategy to attract greater investment in the future. The country has developed a large number of investor-friendly economic zones -including public free zones, private free zones, and a special economic zone in the Red Sea port city of Aqaba. Meanwhile, Jordan’s tourism revenues rose in the first seven months of this year by 16.5 per cent, to 1.5 billion dinars ($2.1 billion) compared with 1.2 billion dinars posted during the corresponding period of  July last year, according to official figures, the Central Bank of Jordan attributed the increase to the rising number of visitors from Libya, Iraq, Yemen and the US. According to officials, Jordan’s tourism sector is looking to rebound this  year. Gross income in the tourism sector amounted to 1.9 billion dinars reflecting a decline of more than 16 per cent.  The number of visitors also fell by 35 per cent last year. One of the reasons for the decline was regional instability and pro-democracy demonstrations in Jordan, officials say. From:Gulftoday