The Aqaba Container Terminal (ACT) in Jordan is making strong progress in its transformation into a transport and logistics hub for the Levant region. This is being driven by improvements in infrastructure, capacity and digital systems spearheaded by the container port.
Namely, Wolfgang Lehmacher, Head of Supply Chain and Transport Industries at the World Economic Forum addressed that the logistics field is important for economic development, also referring to the regional opportunities Jordan could have.
Concerning Jordan’s regional benefits, Iraq was a main export market and Lehmacher continued that the reopening of the border between both countries, aw well as the reconstruction of Syria and Iraq will strengthen the economies in the region.
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As Lehmacher highlighted, Jordan has a stable, safe and economically attractive potential that it enables it to become the Dubai or Singapore of the Wider Levant region.
According to Samir Murad, Minister of Labour, Jordan offers potential as a strategic regional logistics cluster and business hub, with key markets in Damascus, Syria and Iraq on Amman’s doorstep.
Professor Yossi Sheffi, director of MIT’s Center for Transportation and Logistics highlighted the advantages that such a hub can bring to the country.
Also, private sectors, as ACT, bring digital competence, investment and knowledge. According to Morten Engelstoft, CEO of APM Terminals, ACT aspires to develop, thus it is of a great importance to maintain an efficient port infrastructure for Jordan and the region and for the customers.
Yet, as stated by World Economic Forum’s latest Global Competitiveness Report, Jordan is ranked on the 74th, Israel 20th, UAE 27th, and Saudi Arabia 39th place.
Aqaba Container Terminal handle around 850,000 containers annually and has the capacity for more than 1,200,000 containers, according to ACT CEO Stephen Yoogalingam. At 1,000 meters, the quay length is capable of dealing with all types of ships and has become an important economic station in Aqaba, boosting the movement of imports and exports.
ACT has now become one of the three main terminals on the Red Sea following the introduction of advanced technology across all procedures.
Additionally, 18 experts from the transport and logistics sector cooperated to examine the terminal’s opportunities, representing 15 different countries, participated in the recent 15th Trans Middle East conference.
Concluding, organised by the Aqaba Container Terminal (ACT) in co-operation with ASEZA, the conference discussed about global practices for developing a sustainable transport and logistics infrastructure and focused on the most crucial challenges and opportunities for the region.