EC press statement by European Commissioner Dubravka ŠUICA and the Jordan Minister of Investments Tareq GHAZALEH
15 October 2026
Contents updated on 15 Oct 2026
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European Commission
Follow its sittings00:18 - 00:38
Speaker 1
Good morning, welcome to this press point. It's our pleasure to have with us Commissioner for the Mediterranean, Dubravka Šuica, and Jordanian Minister of Investment, Dr. Tareq Abu Ghazaleh. Following the meeting, Commissioner Šuica and Minister will now give you a press statement. Commissioner, the floor is yours.
00:38 - 03:21
Speaker 8
Good morning, thank you, dear Minister Abu Ghazaleh. It is a pleasure to welcome you as we enter the final stretch of preparations for the Jordan-EU Investment Conference on the 19th of November at the Dead Sea. Your visit concludes an important European roadshow from Milan to Munich and Brussels, bringing Jordan's investment opportunities closer to European businesses. Our message is clear: Europe remains firmly committed to Jordan and its future. Jordan is a key strategic partner for the European Union and an anchor of stability in the region with many challenges.
Its economic growth and prosperity are in our common interest. Since we signed our strategic and comprehensive partnership in this room in January 2024, we have already achieved a great deal together. You have strengthened our political cooperation and advanced our joint work on bankable projects, reforms, and economic opportunities. Now, we want to take this partnership to the next level, turning our shared ambitions into concrete investments, growth, and jobs. This is what the investment conference is about.
Jordan has identified 40 investment opportunities worth more than 15 billion euro across strategic sectors including energy, digital technologies, infrastructure, industry, and water security. One flagship example is the Aqaba-Amman Water Desalination and Conveyance Project with more than 1.5 billion in Team Europe support. This is the kind of transformative investment we want to advance together. The European Union is fully mobilized to make this conference a success. President von der Leyen will open the conference together with His Majesty the King, and I am very pleased to accompany her for this important occasion.
I have also invited ministers from EU member states to join us, but also, very importantly, to send their high-level business delegations. We want strong European business participation and concrete investment commitments. Our ambition is to strengthen Jordan's position as a regional hub for investment, growth, and connectivity, creating opportunities for both Jordanian and European businesses. Together with Jordan today, we continue building stability through economic opportunity. Thank you.
03:21 - 03:43
Speaker 7
Thank you very much. Good morning, madam, and thank you for the nice welcoming. It's my pleasure to be back in Brussels for the second visit of this year with one clear purpose: is to turn this strong partnership into a real investment, impactful projects.
03:43 - 05:33
Speaker 5
Jordan and Europe have spent decades building trust. Now it's the time to build economic value together. The EU-Jordan strategic and comprehensive partnership signed early January of last year raised our relation to a new level and aims to mobilize up to 1.4 billion euro in investment through EU financing instruments. The political foundation are in place. Our task now is really to move from partnership to projects and from project to productive investments.
That's that was the focus of the meeting we took place today and yesterday, especially with the private sector. Our message was clear: in a region where certainty is scarce, Jordan offers stable gateway that investment can utilize to access Middle East and neighboring countries. On the 19th of November, the Jordan-EU investment conference will be opened at the Dead Sea, following dedicated business and sectoral session on the 18th of November with specific roundtables that combine a lot of expert business owners. Under the patronage of His Majesty King Abdullah II and the participation of the European Commission President, it will bring government, business, and finance together around one shared agenda, moving investment project forward. And as you mentioned, we are not coming empty-handed.
05:33 - 06:21
Speaker 6
We put a lot of opportunity on the table that cater for different sectors, whether technology, renewable energy, water, transportation, logistics, fertilizer, pharmaceutical, and advanced manufacturing technologies. It's the time to look for the right partner. Successfully we managed to have lots of political partner and now we want to take it further into an economical business partner, whether from the governmental side or the private sector. I know that many will question why Jordan. My answer is simple: it is stability, connectivity, and talent.
06:21 - 07:21
Speaker 4
Jordan is a safe gateway to the Middle East. It sits where Europe, Asia, and Africa meet, and its trade agreements open doors to more than 100 countries. We are also making it easier for any investor to have a smooth experience and investor journey that is powered by clear regulatory framework, digital government service, and lucrative incentives to ensure preserving healthy profit margins. So Jordan is not only a market, yet it is a place where everybody needs to invest, build, and grow their future in the region. So my invitation to the European business is simple: come to the Dead Sea, meet our talent, explore our opportunity, and find your right partner.
Speaker 4
The conference will be judged on different aspect, but not for sure speeches or meetings. It is really the partnership that we can yield out of this conference. So from dialogue to deals, the journey started. We invite everyone in Europe to take place in that journey. And thank you, Madam, for all your personal support and the Commission support to make this as a true representation of a concrete sustainable partnership between Jordan and the EU.
Thank you again.
Speaker 2
Thank you, Commissioner, Minister, this concludes our press statement. Thank you. Thank you very much.