Jordan: Red Sea-Dead Sea Project, Italy will contribuite to Phase 1

Italy will contribute to the implementation of Phase 1 of the Red Sea-Dead Sea Project by allocating 50 million euro in tied aid (a “grant equivalent” of about 25 million euros) and by donating 2 million euros. The Italian contribution will be confirmed following the positive outcome of the Project’s ongoing environmental impact assessment and a final evaluation on its comprehensive financial viability. More resources could be drawn from the European Union’s “Neighbourhood Investment Facility”. Italy’s contribution was announced by the Italian Ambassador to Jordan, Giovanni Brauzzi, at the Donors Conference held on 1 December in a location near the Dead Sea. Italy has been engaged in the Red Sea-Dead Sea Project since its initial phases, having partly financed the preliminary feasibility study. The decision to further support the Project – whose Phase 1 envisages the construction of a desalination plant and a pipeline connecting the Red Sea to the Dead Sea – was taken on the basis of the potential contribution it can make to the development of Jordan and its Neighbouring States, finding new water resources, protecting the Dead Sea and to the stability of the whole Middle East region.