Question: Why did the government insist on approving the new budget before the end of last year? Answer: In fact, we expedited approval of the budget because we spent 96% of capital expenditure during 2025, and the more we are able to spend these resources during the year, the more we can advance in many sectors and capital projects. We therefore hastened approval so the implementation of important capital projects wouldn't be delayed at the beginning of this year.

The year 2026 will be a year of construction and a pivotal year. In the past period there were major efforts to lay the groundwork for very large, strategic and major projects that require financing. This year will be the year of starting implementation and construction of these projects and issuing their tenders.

There are projects worth about $11 billion that will begin implementation this year and extend over the next four to five years. Tenders will be floated for these projects, whose impact will be distributed across many productive sectors and will achieve higher growth rates because most of their financing comes from external investments. These projects are distributed across the water, energy, transport, tourism and construction sectors.

Necessarily, they will have a major impact on growth, but the budget also contributes part of the costs of these projects. If we look, for example, at the National Water Carrier Project, the budget will contribute over the next four years about a quarter of a billion dinars at least to support this project, in order to reduce water costs later.

With regard to the Risha gas project and the transmission pipeline as well, the government will contribute through this year’s budget 35 million dinars allocated to support this project.

There are also other projects that will receive support from the budget, especially public transport projects, where we will support these sectors so that we can achieve appropriate feasibility to guarantee local and foreign investment and financing for these projects.

Ultimately, I always stress that we and the private sector are partners in the Economic Modernisation Programme, and we are partners in most of these projects. If we look at financing of the Economic Modernisation Programme, two-thirds of the financing comes from investments and the private sector, locally or externally, and not from the budget. Despite that, capital expenditure in the budget amounts to about JD6 billion, including capital spending and assistance and grants that will be allocated to the education and health sectors. This is the government’s duty and responsibility to focus capital financing on these two sectors.

Question: When will executive works for the National Water Carrier Project begin on the ground? Answer: We began the early works phase for this project six months ago and completed most of the financing procedures required for this project, whose financing is estimated at more than $5 billion or $5.5 billion. A large part of the financing is from grants and concessional loans, and the remainder is foreign investment, with part of it local investment. As I mentioned, there is a contribution from the government through the budget as capital expenditure in this project of more than a quarter of a billion dinars over the next four years.

Financing of the project is one of the essential matters, and the final financial close for this project with all investor and donor entities will be completed within the next 60 days. Implementation will begin at the end of the first quarter of this year, and delivery will be in 2030 or by the end of 2030.

This project provides 300 million cubic metres of desalinated water annually, pumped to Amman through pipelines from Aqaba to the reception stations in Amman.

This project is the largest integrated project in terms of desalination and pumping regionally and globally. It is a large, important and strategic project for Jordan, and thank God we are moving forward with it, and by the end of the first quarter we will have begun implementation, God willing.

Question: There is also the energy challenge and the issue of gas exploration. We have heard a lot about exploration operations and supplying industrial cities with gas. Is it possible that we reach a stage where gas is considered one of Jordan’s natural resources? Answer: Certainly, we do not want to reach this goal after ten years, but rather after five years or four years. There are facts and we are working on projects that we are implementing, and there are results on the ground. The goal is that by 2030 we will have gas production from the Risha field that covers or meets more than 80% of the needs of our sectors for natural gas.

This means about 417 million cubic feet, which requires implementation of the gas pipeline between Risha and the Arab Gas Pipeline this year, or at least issuing its tender this year, so that it is ready by 2030 to benefit from these quantities that are extracted, at increasing rates each year.

The latest figure we have reached is about 80 million cubic feet per year, and this number will double until we reach the target for 2030, when the transmission pipeline will be prepared for this purpose.

Of course, the project will have an impact on industrial zones and on the savings it will achieve for Jordanian industries in these areas. We have begun expanding the natural gas network in industrial zones in various governorates, in Mafraq, Ma’an and Zarqa, and we are continuing. We are talking about savings of hundreds of millions for Jordanian industries connected to the gas network that we are expanding now.

Question: With regard to major strategic projects, there is the Aqaba–Al-Shidya–Aqaba–Ghor Al-Safi railway project. Where has this project reached? Answer: The regional railway is a reality, and Jordan is either part of it or outside it. It is very necessary that Aqaba be an integral part of the regional railway system.

Today, Turkiye and Syria are interested in railway connectivity with Jordan, and Saudi Arabia is also interested in railway connectivity with Jordan, with Syria and with Turkiye. These are regional strategic issues, and everyone is interested in them, and sooner or later they will become a reality.

Our goal is to start with the national railway project from Aqaba. To achieve economic feasibility and an investment return for the project, there must be goods transported by rail.

Initially, the Jordan Phosphate Mines Company (JPMC) and the Arab Potash Company (APC) expressed interest in transporting potash and phosphate by rail because of the returns, and the two companies will be contributors to the railway project.

This project will necessarily be connected in its first phase to a dry port in Ma’an, which will add value and support logistics operations in Aqaba. Then the project can expand in the coming years to reach Mudawwara, then move north to Syria and Turkiye, and south to Saudi Arabia.

Question: When will railway projects begin? Answer: This year. That is why this is a pivotal year, and it is essential that we are able to start energy, water and railway projects so that we can complete them over the next four years.

Question: One of the projects the government has spoken about is the Amra City project. There are questions as to why Amra City and why not develop existing cities instead.

Answer: First, this is not a new project. The government began working on it and implementing it as stated in the letter of designation, and it is a necessary and important project.

If we look at Amman and Zarqa, specifically Amman, and if population growth in Amman and Zarqa continues as it did over the past ten years, without taking into account the past fifteen years since the Syrian refugee influx, we will find that the population in Zarqa and Amman over the next 25 to 30 years will reach 11 million people. We can imagine Amman with nine million residents, or Zarqa with double its current population.

No matter how much effort we exert in building and developing infrastructure, with the large expected population numbers there will be financial and funding difficulties, pressure on municipalities and the Greater Amman Municipality, social pressures, housing costs, land prices, congestion and required services, all of which will be in a very difficult situation.

Therefore, there must be planning for supporting cities close to Amman, Zarqa and the airport that are organised and planned in a way that is not imposed on us. On the contrary, we are the ones who can build and plan before the necessities of life impose themselves as a reality that requires us to build our plans around it. On the other hand, today we need large and essential facilities in Amman and also necessarily to serve Zarqa.

We need a large international stadium. The sports city is now more than 55 years old and needs development, and Amman’s size when the sports city was built was a tenth of what it is today.

Amman today has about five million residents, and we need a new, modern sports city. It is true that the government has updated the sports city in Amman in recent months, but we need more than that. We need a large exhibition centre to serve Amman and Zarqa, and we need an investment tourism project such as a large entertainment city. These projects cannot be done today inside the capital.

Thinking about establishing a new city began years ago, and I emphasise that it is not a new capital or a new administrative capital.

The location of the new city enables us to work efficiently and plan and organise in the correct way without obstacles, on state-owned land. The location is closest to Zarqa, Amman and the airport, and includes vast areas of about half a million dunums of state land, expandable. It is 35 kilometres from Zarqa and the airport, 40 kilometres from Amman, 80 kilometres from the Omari border centre with Saudi Arabia, and 80 kilometres from the Jaber border centre with Syria. It lies between the Amman–Saudi highway and the Zarqa–Iraq and Saudi highway. The location is strategic, and the decision is well studied.

We are not talking about a project for four or five years. This phase is a foundational phase. We start with a nucleus that develops in stages. Frankly, completion of this project will be for future generations. It is a project for our generation and for generations to come.

Of course, a large part of this project will be allocated to the Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDC), because it is also important to me that retirees, military or civilian, as well as residents of Al-Muwaqqar District, have a share in this project. In the end, it is a national project, not just an investment project, but a project that serves society and must have social value.

Question: You spoke about ambitious strategic projects worth about $11 billion. A question the citizen may ask now is: how can all these projects be reflected on the citizen, and how can they be reflected specifically on unemployment? Answer: First, all these projects, when we talk about projects that have an impact on a large number of sectors, whether water, energy, construction or transport projects, all these projects together activate the industrial sector, the construction sector, the trade sector and various other sectors.

The ports sector and the logistics sector, all of this ultimately feeds into employment.

Employment, on one hand, depends on establishing projects and creating new opportunities, but employment also depends on skills and preparing competencies, and this is important.

These projects must therefore be accompanied by parallel work in qualification and training, particularly vocational qualification and training.

We should not forget that these projects are spread out. These projects are not in one area only. They extend across the entire country.

Question: Over the past period, the government has taken more than 200 economic decisions since its formation. The main headline of these decisions was easing the burden on citizens and stimulating growth. Let me recall some of these decisions for you and for viewers: reducing the total tax on vehicles by about 50%, exempting residential apartments from property taxes for three years, tax and customs settlements that benefited more than 8,000 citizens and companies, payment of delayed income tax refunds for the years 2020 to 2023, amending the vehicle plate system, allocating proceeds from the sale of special numbers to the university student fund, achieving about JD5 million in additional revenue, and exempting licensing and permit fees for public transport operators by 50%. These are some of these decisions. The question that comes to mind is: will the government also take decisions this year to ease the burden on citizens and stimulate growth? Answer: Certainly. These decisions first eased the burden on citizens, but they also had economic value. In the end, there is a balance.

If we are able to ease the burden on citizens, this is essential and necessary, and it is the government’s primary duty in the end. We support facilitative measures, especially in the economic field.

We will continue with tax and customs settlements and speeding up the issue of arrears.

Regarding expropriations, there are many citizens who have not yet received their rights related to expropriations. I believe it is unfair for the government to expropriate land and not pay the citizen their entitlement within a reasonable timeframe.

We have so far paid more than JD600 million in arrears from previous years, but God willing, when we leave our position, we will not leave arrears behind us.

Question: You previously said that the budget reflects 15 years of continuous crises, and that the government seeks to reach a growth rate of 4% in 2028. According to economic experts, this is an ambitious rate and involves a significant commitment. This is a commitment you may be questioned about, and you have placed yourself in a position where you will be asked about these numbers. My question is: what makes you this optimistic?* Answer: Certainly it is a commitment that I will be questioned about. The past fifteen years were indeed successive crises, and frankly Jordan had no opportunity to catch its breath.

Fifteen years of growth at an average of 2% naturally led to rising unemployment figures. This is a major challenge.

Today, we will begin implementing essential and necessary projects with large investment volumes that will be capable of moving the economy.

I am optimistic because, despite all the regional challenges we faced during the past year, we were able to achieve good growth rates. I believe that in the absence of such challenges during the current year, God willing, growth will be at better rates.

But I want to be clear: our work as a government must continue at the highest pace regardless of all regional challenges. This has always been the historical path of this country and the path on which this country was built.

Question: We often say that the goal of all these decisions and projects is ultimately to stimulate growth, and the final goal is the citizen. When we look at some economic figures, growth rose last year to 2.8%. Foreign investments increased, exports rose by 9%, tourism returned and grew by 6.5%, and the central bank’s reserves reached, for the first time in its history, 24.6 billion. You spoke earlier about raising growth to 4% in 2028. What do these figures and indicators mean for the citizen, and how are they reflected on them? Answer: It is necessary to clarify one point: these figures, indicators and achievements are not solely the effort of this government. There have been fiscal and monetary policies over the past years and through the crises we faced that helped strengthen Jordan’s economic position.

This government continues and accelerates the Economic Modernisation Programme, and this is necessary. I believe that the figures we have seen and mentioned are to a large extent a result of that, but there is an ongoing policy over the past years that enabled Jordan to maintain its financial and monetary stability.

If we look today at the level of reserves at the central bank, which has reached a historic level, this is the result of prudent monetary policies pursued by the Central Bank of Jordan for more than 36 years, while economies much larger than ours in the region were shaken and their currencies collapsed more than once.

The responsibility of this government today, as we did last year, is to double efforts, double measures, and come up with sometimes unconventional solutions to ongoing problems that citizens and the economy suffer from.

As for the overall impact on citizens, when you see tourism numbers rise, the entire tourism sector and those working in it will benefit and expand, and employment will increase accordingly.

When we talk about the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) and the record levels it has reached in recent months, which are historic levels since 2008 if not earlier, what does that mean? It means companies are expanding, achieving profits and improving their performance overall.

This means there is stimulation and growth, opportunities for expansion and growth, and employment and job opportunities will therefore expand.

All these indicators we talk about have an impact on the ground, on companies, hotels, restaurants, factories and the overall economic sector.

//Petra// AF More to follow