$300m contracts with Jordan for projects in Salah al-Din

SALAH AL-DIN / IraqiNews.com: The Iraq National Investment Commission signed $300-million contracts with a Jordanian company on Thursday to carry out construction and agricultural projects in Salah al-Din, an INIC official in the province said. “Several contracts were signed with Aphrodite, a Jordanian firm working in the field of construction and contracting, to build 2,500 housing units in Tikrit, the capital city of the province, over several stages taking up to five years,” Tami Saab, the INIC vice chairman in Salah al-Din, told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The Jordanian company will also cultivate 2,000 donums with high-oil olives near the city of Baiji, (40 km) north of Tikrit,” Saab said. One Iraqi donum equals 2,000 square meters. “The projects also include the construction of a garage for trucks, a hotel and relevant utilities near the Baiji oil refineries, Iraq’s largest,” he added. The contract was signed by Jawhar al-Fahl, the INIC chairman in Salah al-Din, for the Iraqi side and Qays al-Jaafari, Aphrodite CEO. Jaafari, in statements to IraqiNews.com news agency, expected the projects to provide jobs for many unemployed people in the province. “Salah al-Din is going to turn into a permanent workshop,” Jaafari said, adding his company will embark on implementing these projects in a month since the signing date. Tikrit lies 175 km north of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. AmR (S) 2