By: Zawya

UAE-headquartered AD Ports Group will invest 141 million UAE dirhams ($38.4 million) in Aqaba Multipurpose Port in Jordan under a 30-year concession agreement inked with Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC).

The agreement marks the fourth of the five strategic projects in the Hashemite Kingdom that were announced by the state-owned AD Ports Group in December 2021.

Under the agreement signed on Thursday, AD Ports Group and ADC will establish a joint venture (JV) to manage and operate the Hashemite Kingdom’s only general cargo and multipurpose seaport on the Red Sea.

AD Ports Group will hold a 70 percent stake in the JV with ADC owning the remaining 30 percent. The JV will assume formal operational charge of the terminal in August 2026.

The Aqaba Multipurpose Port handles general cargo, grains, livestock, roll-on/roll-off (Ro-Ro) and project cargo. It has an annual handling capacity of 11 million tonnes, supported by nine berths, a quay length of about two kilometres and a draft of 13.5 metres.

In 2025, the terminal processed more than 5.3 million tonnes of cargo and nearly 85,000 car equivalent units (CEUs) of Ro-Ro imports.

Port of Aqaba is Jordan’s primary gateway for foreign trade, handling around 80 percent of the country’s exports and 65 percent of its imports. It also serves as a key transit hub for neighbouring markets including Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Abu Dhabi Ports Group is also spearheading the $10 billion Marsa Zayed beachfront resort and residential community in Aqaba. In February 2025, the Group appointed UAE-based MAG Group Holding as the lead developer for the first phase of the project.

In January 2024, the Group also signed a shareholders’ agreement between its digital arm, Maqta Technologies, and ADC to implement its Port Community System (PCS) for the Port of Aqaba.

In December 2024, ADC had issued a Request for Qualification (RFQ) tender for the management, operation, and development of King Hussein International Airport, listed among the five strategic projects announced in December 2021.

Since January 2023, AD Ports Group has been operating Aqaba’s first cruise terminal, which was the first of the five projects to be operationalised.