Aqaba Airport

The ASEZ provides businesses with several investment incentives including a flat tax of 5% on net profit; no foreign equity restrictions on investments made in the industry, retail, tourism and related sectors; no import taxes or tariffs on goods imported for individual consumption; no property or land taxes in some instances; flexible labor laws;... and a multimodal transport hub with an airport and seaport. The Special Economic Zone covers 375 sq m of land. ADDING DIVERSITY: The primary goal for Aqaba is to diversify its economy beyond shipping, logistics and tourism. Planners also aim to do more than simply build the port city into an economic engine; one objective is to transform it into a cultural hotspot. This should help in efforts to develop the city's social infrastructure, making Aqaba a more attractive place not just for investors, but also artists and academics. One area where many local industrial and logistics firms have set up facilities is the Aqaba International Industrial Estate (AIIE). Located east of the airport, the AIIE was recently ranked 10th out of the MENA "free zones of the future" in a list compiled by the FDI Intelligence Magazine, put out by the UK's Financial Times. The funding, planning, developing and marketing of the AIIE is carried out by PBI Aqaba Industrial Estate (PBI Aqaba) under a Concession Agreement. Phase I of the AIIE covers 60 ha of land that has already been completed and sold. The entire industrial estate stretches across 175 ha of land, PBI Aqaba estimates that around 60 companies have signed contracts with the area. Actual investment in the AIIE is upwards of $190m and is set to reach $600m. In addition, the industrial zone has generated 900 jobs and this number is likely to hit 3000 when the AIIE is fully occupied.Read More