"But we are hoping to double these figure in the next few years," he said.

Kabariti added that Jordan aimed to make Aqaba into one of the key seaports serving the northern part of the Middle East and Gulf, allowing Jordan to take a bigger share of the transport market.

Jordan has joint ventures with Gulf partners and wholly owned Gulf ventures and these companies are also using the zone to export to Europe and the rest of the world, he pointed out.

Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority (ASEZA) commissioner for economic development and investment affairs Saleh Keilani said that the ASEZA development plan, launched in 2001, was ahead of schedule.

He said the ASEZA had already achieved 130 per cent of the targets laid out in the 20-year development plan.

"We were able to attract 8 billion dollars in the first five and a half years of operations, which is more than the 6 billion dollars we were seeking to achieve in the first six years," Keilani said.

The lion's share of the 8 billion dollars investment in the Aqaba zone comes from the Gulf, with Saudi companies accounting for more than 80 per cent of the total.