Amman: The Jordan Strategy Forum (JSF) has released a policy paper titled "Jordan and Economic Corridors: Strategic Opportunities in a Changing Global Economy," which explores the significant shifts in international trade and transport networks and the opportunities that new economic corridors present for Jordan to improve its role in regional and global trade systems.
According to Jordan News Agency, the Forum noted that geopolitical tensions, frequent supply chain disruptions, and growing concerns regarding trade and energy security have driven many nations to diversify their transport routes, moving away from reliance on a few maritime routes and strategic chokepoints. Consequently, economic corridors have evolved beyond mere road and railway construction to include maritime and land transport, energy networks, digital infrastructure, logistics services, and industrial and investment cooperation.
The paper analyzed key corridors and initiatives that are transforming trade between Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, such as China's Belt and Road Initiative, the Trans-Caspian Middle East Corridor, the North-South International Transport Corridor, the Iraq-Turkey Development Corridor, the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC), and the Jordanian-Syrian-Turkish Transport Initiative. The JSF underscored the importance of viewing these initiatives as interconnected routes that Jordan can utilize within a multi-corridor national strategy.
The JSF highlighted that relying on a single route could expose Jordan to geopolitical risks and trade disruptions, while diversifying routes offers greater flexibility, expands trade connectivity options, and bolsters the economy's resilience. Among the most impactful routes for Jordan's future in trade, transport, and energy is the IMEC, alongside the Jordanian-Syrian-Turkish Transport Initiative, which holds potential to rejuvenate traditional land routes through the Levant by developing the Hejaz Railway.
The IMEC features an eastern route connecting Indian ports to Arabian Gulf ports via maritime transport, and a northern route linking Gulf states to the Mediterranean and Europe through railways and roads. It also includes projects for electrical interconnection, hydrogen pipelines, fiber optic cables, and advanced digital infrastructure.
The paper estimated that the corridor requires around 2,800 kilometers of new railway infrastructure, with total investments approximated at $20 billion based on preliminary data. Studies suggest potential reductions in transit time via the corridor by 40% to 51%, transport costs by about 30%, and annual logistical savings exceeding $5 billion. These savings are crucial for high-value industries like pharmaceuticals, electronics, automotive components, and advanced manufacturing, which are sensitive to shipping costs, market access speed, and supply chain reliability.
The Jordanian-Syrian-Turkish transport initiative could create an integrated route linking the Gulf states, via Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, and Turkey, to European markets. This route would rely more on rehabilitating existing infrastructure compared to projects demanding entirely new transport networks, enabling quicker and more cost-effective reactivation, given regional stability and infrastructure rehabilitation.
The paper's trade analysis indicated that the integrated route's intra-regional trade volume reached around $740 billion in 2024, with the European Union accounting for 37.7%, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries 24.5%, and India 19.4%. The forum emphasized these figures demonstrate a broad trade base, though Jordan's share of trade flows remains limited within the integrated network.
The forum estimated untapped export opportunities among the integrated countries at approximately $681.8 billion, primarily with the European Union ($311.8 billion), followed by the Gulf Cooperation Council countries ($131.1 billion), Turkey ($121.6 billion), and India ($111.8 billion). It stressed the necessity for economic benefits of the corridor to extend beyond large economies to less integrated countries like Jordan, facilitating their access to European and Asian markets and encouraging infrastructure investment to enhance global value chain integration.
The forum noted that Jordan's small, open economy heavily relies on foreign markets, with the average value of exports and imports of goods and services around 101.4% of GDP during 2022-2024, making it one of the most trade-dependent economies in the region. The JSF concluded that the efficiency of transport, logistics, and transit procedures is crucial to the performance of the Jordanian economy, serving as key determinants rather than supporting factors.