Special Economic Zones in the OIC Region:
Learning from Experience
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Aqaba Development Corporation (ADC)
The ADC was formally created in 2004 as the development arm for Aqaba SEZ. The ADC is jointly
owned by the Government of Jordan and ASEZA and has a mandate to:
 Develop the SEZ
 Build new infrastructure and required superstructure
 Expand existing utilities;
 Create necessary business enablers for the SEZ; and
 Manage and operate its key facilities.
Within the SEZ, the ADC owns the ports, airports and strategic parcels of land as well as the
development and management rights for these strategic infrastructure assets in addition to
other key infrastructure and utilities assets. ADC’s approach is to optimise private sector
participation in the development and management of these assets.
A key example of this has been the development of public-private partnerships at Aqaba port
which have transformed the development and operations of the port terminals. This was
initiated by the passing of Privatisation Law 25/2000 which allowed port ownership to be
transferred to the ADC so that it could move ahead rapidly with policy reforms. In the face of
strong opposition from Parliament to the partnership, the government decided to implement a
short term management contract initially lasting two years. Under this structure the private
sector was only responsible for providing management services and not any port infrastructure.
This was seen as a suitable structure to test the potential viability of a public private partnership
at the container terminal, after which a 25-year joint venture could be entered into depending
on performance.108
In 2004 APMTerminals signed a 2 year management contract within the ADC. During this period
the ACD measured the operator’s performance based on selected indicators to measure
progress. These reforms were identified to bring about almost immediate change and resulted
in anchorage waiting times being eliminated and average port stays being reduced from 8 days
to a few hours. By 2007 container dwelling times were down to 16 days and port productivity
had more than tripled from 9 moves an hour to 28.
These changes were primarily attributed to increased productivity and performance following
investment of $30 million in soft and hard infrastructure which included 100% computerisation
of the container terminal. More flexible shift systems were also implemented which increased
productivity of port activities.
108 Cebotari and Dennis (2008) A Public-Private Partnership Brings Order to Aqaba’s Port. IFC and World Bank.