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Ammon News -

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources Hala Zawati Saturday urged expansion in value-added Arab Potash Company (APC) projects to raise the mining sector's competitiveness and its contribution to the gross domestic product.

Speaking during a recent visit to the company's plants in Ghor Al-Safi, where she was accompanied by the APC Board Chairman and CEO, the minister said that the company played a "distinguished" role in supporting the national economy, developing local communities and employing local people.

Zawati said her ministry continued to encourage launching extractive industries and manufacturing based on national raw materials that will be "a qualitative addition" to the Jordanian mining industry.

The mining sector in the Kingdom, she pointed out, is heading toward "positive evolution," noting its key contribution to GDP of about 7.7 per cent and national exports of about 20 per cent.

She said that in August last year, the ministry pitched investment opportunities in the mining industry, and introduced a special bulletin with the key mineral ores available for utilization, including 12 strategic raw minerals open for investment, adding that many investors were interested in these resources.

The minister also said that work is underway to prepare a national strategy for the mining and mineral resources sector with a clear roadmap to increase the mining sector's contribution to the GDP, taking into account revisiting and amending the relevant legislation to encourage investors.

For his part, the APC Board Chairman Shehadeh Abu Hdeib pointed to ongoing cooperation between the company and the energy ministry, which, he said, had a positive impact on the projects of the company, the world's eighth largest potash producer.