Where will the Jordan-EU Investment Conference 2026 be held?

The conference will take place in the city of Dead Sea, JOR.

What are the primary focus areas of the Jordan-EU Investment Conference 2026?

The conference will focus on renewable energy, the digital economy, and infrastructure.

Jordan-EU Investment Conference 2026

Name: Jordan-EU Investment Conference 2026
Start: 2026-11-19 00:00:00+00:00
End: 2026-11-19 00:00:00+00:00
Location: Dead Sea

Nov 19, 2026Dead Sea, JordanIn-person

Registration open

The Jordan-EU Investment Conference 2026 is set to convene in the Dead Sea region of JOR. This event serves as a crucial platform to enhance economic cooperation between JOR and the European Union, with a primary objective of attracting foreign direct investment into JOR. The conference will focus on key sectors such as renewable energy, the digital economy, and infrastructure development, aiming to showcase JOR's potential and foster partnerships.

Committees & topics

Topics
Renewable Energy: Scaling Jordan's Solar and Wind Transition · Clean Technologies: Decarbonisation, Circularity and Green Industry · Digital Economy: Connectivity, Data and Tech Investment · Industry: Manufacturing Competitiveness and Value-Chain Integration · Logistics: Aqaba, Trade Corridors and Supply-Chain Resilience · Infrastructure: PPPs, Urbanisation and Cross-Border Connectivity · Water: Scarcity, Desalination and the Aqaba-Amman Conveyance · Transport: Roads, Rail, Aviation and Urban Mobility

Why it matters

This conference holds significant importance for JOR's economic development strategy. By engaging with European investors, JOR seeks to diversify its economy, create employment opportunities, and integrate further into global value chains. The focus on renewable energy aligns with global efforts towards sustainable development and energy security, positioning JOR as a potential regional leader in this sector. Furthermore, advancements in the digital economy are vital for modernizing JOR's infrastructure and fostering innovation, which can attract further technological investment and expertise.

For the European Union, the conference represents an opportunity to strengthen its economic ties with a strategically important partner in the Middle East. Investing in JOR can contribute to regional stability and provide new markets for European businesses. The emphasis on infrastructure development and the digital economy also aligns with the EU's broader foreign policy objectives of promoting economic growth and digital transformation in partner countries. This mutual engagement can lead to enhanced trade relations, knowledge transfer, and collaborative projects that benefit both sides.

How to prepare

Delegates preparing for the Jordan-EU Investment Conference 2026 should conduct thorough research into JOR's current economic landscape, particularly focusing on the renewable energy, digital economy, and infrastructure sectors. Understanding the regulatory environment, investment incentives, and potential challenges within these areas will be crucial for effective engagement. A detailed analysis of JOR's national development plans and its strategic priorities will enable participants to align their proposals with the host country's objectives.

Furthermore, understanding the perspectives of key European Union member states, such as DEU, FRA, ESP, NLD, ITA, BEL, SWE, EST, and IRL, regarding investment in the Middle East will be beneficial. Each country may have specific interests or existing partnerships that could influence the dynamics of the conference. Utilizing frameworks like "what-is-stakeholder-mapping" and "dynamic-analysis" can help delegates identify and understand the various actors involved, their interests, and potential areas of collaboration or contention. This preparation will facilitate more productive discussions and increase the likelihood of successful investment outcomes.

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 3 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Jordan

Seeking foreign direct investment and partnerships in key sectors.

Role in topic

The host nation, actively promoting its economic potential and seeking to attract investment in renewable energy, digital economy, and infrastructure to foster economic growth and development.

Germany

Potential investor with strong interests in renewable energy and advanced technology.

Role in topic

A significant economic power within the EU, likely to be a key source of investment and technological expertise, particularly in renewable energy and digital infrastructure projects.

France

Interested in strategic partnerships and infrastructure development.

Role in topic

A major European economy with interests in regional stability and infrastructure projects, potentially looking for opportunities to expand its influence and investment in JOR.

Topics & background

The background behind each topic and the actors that shape it.

Renewable Energy: Scaling Jordan's Solar and Wind Transition

Jordan imports roughly 90% of its energy needs, a structural vulnerability exposed by the 2011 disruption of Egyptian gas supplies. In response, the Kingdom passed the Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Law (2012) and launched competitive tenders that made it one of the Arab world's fastest movers on utility-scale solar and wind. By the mid-2020s, renewables supplied over a quarter of grid electricity, anchored by projects such as Tafila Wind, Shams Ma'an, and the Quweira and Risha solar farms, many financed by European DFIs and Gulf developers. The sector now faces a second-stage challenge: grid absorption. Curtailment has risen as transmission lags behind generation, and the National Electric Power Company (NEPCO) carries heavy legacy debt from take-or-pay PPAs. The Energy Sector Strategy 2020-2030 targets 31% renewable electricity by 2030, paired with a planned Green Corridor transmission upgrade, expanded storage tenders, and green hydrogen MoUs signed with European and Gulf partners. The EU, through the 2022 Strategic and Comprehensive Partnership and the Southern Neighbourhood component of the Global Gateway, has earmarked grant blending and EIB lending to crowd in private capital. Investment debates now center on storage, cross-border interconnection with Saudi Arabia, Iraq and potentially Europe, and the bankability of Jordan as a green hydrogen and e-fuels exporter.

Key players

Clean Technologies: Decarbonisation, Circularity and Green Industry

Clean tech in Jordan sits at the intersection of climate vulnerability and industrial diversification. Jordan submitted an updated NDC in 2021 pledging a 31% emissions reduction by 2030 (with 5% unconditional), and its Long-Term Low Emission Development Strategy points to electrification, energy efficiency, and circular economy measures as the principal levers. Industries such as cement, fertilisers (notably potash and phosphate processing), and refining account for a large share of national emissions and are exposed to the EU's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which begins full implementation in 2026. CBAM has reframed clean tech as a competitiveness issue rather than purely an environmental one: Jordanian exporters of iron, steel, aluminium, fertilisers, cement, hydrogen and electricity to the EU face carbon costs unless verified low-carbon production pathways are developed. Parallel EU policy under the Green Deal, the Net-Zero Industry Act and Horizon Europe association opens windows for technology transfer in electrolysers, heat pumps, e-mobility components, and waste-to-energy. Investment conversations focus on three tracks: industrial decarbonisation finance for existing exporters; greenfield clean-tech manufacturing leveraging Jordan's renewables, skilled workforce and free trade agreements with the EU, US, UK and GCC; and a regulatory upgrade covering MRV systems, EPR schemes, and circular economy standards aligned with EU norms.

Key players

Digital Economy: Connectivity, Data and Tech Investment

Jordan has positioned itself as a regional ICT hub since the early 2000s, hosting a disproportionate share of Arabic-language digital content firms and benefiting from a well-educated, multilingual workforce. The sector contributes around 4-5% of GDP and is anchored by clusters such as the King Hussein Business Park and a maturing startup ecosystem that has produced regional exits in fintech, e-commerce and gaming. The REACH 2025 strategy, the National Digital Transformation Strategy, and the 2023 Personal Data Protection Law have aimed to align the regulatory environment with international, and particularly EU, standards. Structural challenges remain: 5G rollout has lagged regional peers, broadband affordability is uneven, and capital markets for scale-ups are thin. Cross-border data flows, cybersecurity certification, and an adequacy-style arrangement with the EU under GDPR are now central to attracting European cloud, AI and outsourcing investment. Jordan's accession discussions on the Council of Europe's Convention 108+ and its participation in Digital4Development initiatives signal an alignment trajectory. The Global Gateway's digital pillar, together with EIB Global and EBRD lending, is targeting submarine cable diversification (including Red Sea routes), data-centre capacity, govtech and digital skills. Debates focus on regulatory convergence with the EU's AI Act and Data Act, talent retention, and whether Jordan can become a nearshoring destination for European firms seeking alternatives to more distant markets.

Key players

Industry: Manufacturing Competitiveness and Value-Chain Integration

Industry accounts for roughly a quarter of Jordan's GDP, with pharmaceuticals, garments, fertilisers, potash, phosphates, processed foods and engineering goods forming the export backbone. Jordan's free trade agreements with the EU (Association Agreement, 1997/2002), the US, the UK, Canada, EFTA and Agadir members give it broad market access, while Qualifying Industrial Zones and Development Zones such as Aqaba and Mafraq offer fiscal incentives. The 2016 simplified Rules of Origin with the EU, designed to support Syrian-refugee employment, was extended and broadened, though uptake has been below initial expectations. Persistent constraints include high energy costs, water scarcity, regional instability affecting trade routes, and a skills mismatch in technical occupations. The wars in Syria, instability in Iraq, and Red Sea shipping disruptions since late 2023 have repeatedly stressed Jordan's industrial logistics. At the same time, supply-chain de-risking by European firms and CBAM exposure are pushing a rethink of where Jordan sits in EU value chains. Investment focus areas include pharmaceuticals (where Jordan is a regional leader with EMA-aligned facilities), defence and dual-use manufacturing, agri-processing, garments moving up the value chain, and electronics assembly. The EU-Jordan Strategic Partnership and the Team Europe Initiative explicitly target industrial co-investment, with discussions on aligning standards, vocational training and trade facilitation.

Key players

Logistics: Aqaba, Trade Corridors and Supply-Chain Resilience

Jordan's logistics profile is shaped by a single deep-water port at Aqaba and its position as a land bridge between the Gulf, the Levant and, historically, Iraq. The Aqaba Special Economic Zone, established in 2001, modernised port operations, and concession arrangements with global operators upgraded container, industrial and passenger terminals. Overland, Jordan handled significant transit traffic to Iraq and Syria before the post-2011 conflicts, much of which has only partially recovered. The Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping from late 2023 sharply reduced Suez/Red Sea traffic and exposed the vulnerability of Aqaba-dependent supply chains, while also stimulating interest in the India-Middle East-Europe Economic Corridor (IMEC) announced at the G20 in 2023, in which Jordan is a designated transit node. The reopening and formalisation of the Jaber-Nasib crossing with Syria and discussions on rail links to Saudi Arabia and Iraq add further corridor dimensions. For investors, the agenda spans port capacity expansion, dry ports and bonded logistics zones, customs digitisation aligned with EU practice, cold-chain infrastructure for agri-exports and pharmaceuticals, and trucking fleet modernisation. The EU's Global Gateway has flagged transport corridors in the Southern Neighbourhood as a priority, with EIB and EBRD financing instruments available for PPP structures.

Key players

Infrastructure: PPPs, Urbanisation and Cross-Border Connectivity

Jordan's infrastructure gap reflects both rapid urbanisation, amplified by successive waves of refugees from Palestine, Iraq and Syria, and persistent fiscal constraints that keep public debt above 90% of GDP. The country has relied heavily on concessional finance and PPPs, with the 2020 PPP Law replacing earlier frameworks to provide a unified investment regime. Flagship projects include the Queen Alia International Airport concession, the Amman Bus Rapid Transit, and several IPP power plants. The Economic Modernisation Vision launched in 2022 identifies a pipeline of infrastructure projects through 2033 across transport, energy, water, ICT and urban development, with an estimated investment need in the tens of billions of dollars. Implementation depends on crowding in private capital, since public investment space is limited by IMF programme constraints and refugee-related spending pressures. The EU and its member states, alongside the EIB, EBRD, World Bank and Gulf partners, are central to financing this pipeline. Investment debates focus on bankability, currency and offtake risk mitigation, the role of blended finance under Global Gateway, and aligning procurement with EU standards on transparency, environmental safeguards and labour. Cross-border infrastructure, particularly with Iraq (oil pipeline, electricity) and Saudi Arabia (rail, power), is a recurring theme.

Key players

Water: Scarcity, Desalination and the Aqaba-Amman Conveyance

Jordan is among the most water-scarce countries in the world, with per-capita renewable freshwater availability well below 100 cubic metres per year, far under the absolute scarcity threshold of 500. The Disi aquifer, the Jordan River system, and the Yarmouk basin have all come under acute stress from over-abstraction, climate change, and the demands of hosting one of the world's largest refugee populations relative to national size. The 1994 peace treaty with Israel allocated specific water shares, but actual deliveries have repeatedly fallen short of expectations and have become politically contested. The centrepiece of Jordan's response is the Aqaba-Amman Water Desalination and Conveyance Project (AAWDCP), a multi-billion-dollar PPP intended to desalinate Red Sea water at Aqaba and pump it some 450 km north to demand centres. Preceded by the shelved Red Sea-Dead Sea conveyance, the new project has secured political backing from the EU, US and Gulf partners and is being structured with international competitive procurement. Parallel efforts include non-revenue water reduction (losses remain near 50% in some networks), wastewater reuse, and trans-boundary cooperation under initiatives such as the Jordan-UAE-Israel "Prosperity" energy-for-water arrangement, whose future is uncertain amid regional tensions. Investment debates centre on bankability of the conveyance project, energy intensity and renewable-powered desalination, tariff reform, and the role of EU climate finance in adaptation. Water security is also explicitly tied to social stability and refugee response financing.

Key players

Transport: Roads, Rail, Aviation and Urban Mobility

Transport in Jordan is overwhelmingly road-based, with freight and passenger movement concentrated on the Amman-Aqaba and Amman-northern border axes. The legacy Hejaz and Aqaba Railway networks operate only partially, mainly for phosphate freight, and successive proposals for a national passenger and freight rail network have been studied but not yet realised at scale. Aviation, by contrast, is a relative bright spot: the PPP concession of Queen Alia International Airport, awarded in 2007 and operated under a build-operate-transfer arrangement, is one of the region's most cited successful infrastructure PPPs. Urban mobility has become a pressing issue as Greater Amman approaches 5 million residents. The Amman-Zarqa Bus Rapid Transit, delayed for over a decade, began phased operations in the 2020s and is being complemented by feeder networks and plans for additional corridors. Electric vehicle uptake, supported by tariff incentives, has grown faster than in most neighbours, raising new questions about charging infrastructure and grid impact. For investors, the agenda includes a possible national railway, second-airport and regional-airport upgrades, EV charging and fleet electrification, logistics-grade trucking and road upgrades on IMEC-relevant corridors, and digital mobility platforms. EU instruments under Global Gateway, EIB Global and EBRD, alongside Gulf sovereign investors, are central to financing this transition.

Key players

Resources

News, lessons, and country profiles to prep for Jordan-EU Investment Conference 2026.

Recent reporting to ground your prep

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‘No red lines’: Spain reveals EU supergroup’s plan to challenge US and China – POLITICO

Lessons

Bite-sized lessons to build the basics

Hidden Stakeholders

Engagement Strategies

Dynamic Analysis

Stakeholder Mapping Workshop

Courses

Guided courses that go deeper on the topic

Advanced Negotiation

Multilateral Negotiation

Policy Brief Writing

Conflict Resolution

The states in play, with the data that shapes their stance

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

Country dossier

By committee

Frequently asked questions

Jordan-EU Investment Conference 2026

Nov 19, 2026Dead Sea, JordanIn-person

Registration open

Committees & topics

Topics
Renewable Energy: Scaling Jordan's Solar and Wind Transition · Clean Technologies: Decarbonisation, Circularity and Green Industry · Digital Economy: Connectivity, Data and Tech Investment · Industry: Manufacturing Competitiveness and Value-Chain Integration · Logistics: Aqaba, Trade Corridors and Supply-Chain Resilience · Infrastructure: PPPs, Urbanisation and Cross-Border Connectivity · Water: Scarcity, Desalination and the Aqaba-Amman Conveyance · Transport: Roads, Rail, Aviation and Urban Mobility

Why it matters

How to prepare

Country perspectives

Where the most-relevant 3 countries stand on the core issues in play. Click through for the full country profile.

Jordan

Seeking foreign direct investment and partnerships in key sectors.

Role in topic

The host nation, actively promoting its economic potential and seeking to attract investment in renewable energy, digital economy, and infrastructure to foster economic growth and development.

Germany

Potential investor with strong interests in renewable energy and advanced technology.

Role in topic

A significant economic power within the EU, likely to be a key source of investment and technological expertise, particularly in renewable energy and digital infrastructure projects.

France

Interested in strategic partnerships and infrastructure development.

Role in topic

A major European economy with interests in regional stability and infrastructure projects, potentially looking for opportunities to expand its influence and investment in JOR.