AMMAN — The Saudi Jordanian Investment Fund
(
SJIF) announced a $15-million investment in
OpenSooq, a Jordanian technology
company.
اضافة اعلان
The moves comes as part of SJIF’s “growth capital investment
strategy, which seeks to support the growth and expansion of promising and
successful Jordanian companies,” a statement from the Fund said.
The agreement was signed by SJIF’s CEO Omar Alwir, and
Co-Founder and CEO of OpenSooq Adey Salamin. Under the deal, the funds will be
utilized to support the growth of OpenSooq in Jordan and the Middle East and
North African Region (MENA).
"This investment will support and enhance the
entrepreneurial environment through the development of capabilities of local
companies and by providing an opportunity for regional expansion, especially
that the ICT sector plays a vital role in the economic growth of Jordan with a
12% contribution to the GDP," Alwir commented.
He added that Jordan is bursting with young talents that
have demonstrated their capabilities at a regional level and have contributed
to positioning the Kingdom as a hub in the IT sector throughout the region.
Salamin voiced appreciation for “the trust SJIF has placed
in our company, and its ability to expand to new markets.”
The investment, he said, “will allow OpenSooq to develop its
business model and increase its presence in several markets,” stopping short of
identifying the target markets.
The Saudi Jordanian Investment Fund is a Jordanian Limited
Public Shareholding Company formed in 2017 as a partnership between the Public
Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, which owns 90% of the company, and 16
commercial and Islamic Jordanian banks, which own the remaining 10%.
The company’s investment basket includes infrastructure
projects based on partnership with the public sector in various field,
especially in the transport, energy, tourism, and water sectors. In addition,
the fund ventures into new projects in vital sectors, especially healthcare,
education and tourism. The deal with OpenSooq falls under the category of
supporting successful and promising Jordanian companies.
SJIF announced late last year its plans to a $400 million
project entailing a general academic hospital with a capacity of 300 beds, 60
outpatient clinics, and a medical university that can accommodate 600 students.
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