Investment in Jordan and Market Entry

The Investment in Jordan and Market Entry practice covers the legal infrastructure of entering, establishing, and operating an entity in the Jordanian market, organised in four clusters of work. The first cluster covers entry and structuring: company formation, the choice of investment vehicle, free zones and development zones, and local partner structuring with contractual risk allocation. The second cluster covers licensing and regulatory: sector-specific licensing, tax structuring with double-taxation treaty positioning, and regulatory compliance frameworks across taxation, employment, labour, consumer protection, and data protection. The third cluster covers establishment and operation: commercial contracts, immigration and work permits, and bank account and capital remittance coordination. The fourth cluster covers capital, counsel, and exit: capital-raising, public-private partnerships, and venture capital structuring; outside general counsel; and restructuring, exit, and divestment advisory.

The Investment practice acts for international corporations entering Jordan or expanding regionally; multinational subsidiaries establishing Jordanian branches and representative offices; family businesses and family offices investing into Jordanian assets and operating companies; investment funds, financial sponsors, and investment managers evaluating Jordanian targets; embassies, cultural institutes, and development-finance institutions operating in Jordan; private investors, high-net-worth individuals, and Jordanian and Middle Eastern principals with cross-border interests in Jordan; and clients in Europe and North America structuring investment into the Jordanian market. The practice acts both as transactional Jordanian counsel for one-off market-entry matters and as outside general counsel for the foreign-owned Jordanian operating subsidiaries that follow.

Yes. The firm regularly acts as Jordanian counsel for foreign investors and multinational corporations entering or expanding in Jordan, alongside the lead foreign counsel that the client retains in their home jurisdiction. On matters with overseas clients or counterparties, including parties from the Gulf Cooperation Council, the United Kingdom, and continental Europe, the firm advises on the Jordanian-law aspects of the transaction or dispute and coordinates with foreign counsel where appropriate. The firm produces deliverables in English where the matter requires it, alongside the Arabic-language work required for filings before Jordanian courts and government bodies. The practice operates within the Investment Environment Law No. 21 of 2022, the Jordanian Companies Law No. 22 of 1997, and the sectoral regulatory regimes applicable to the relevant industry.

Yes. The Investment practice acts on entry into the Aqaba Special Economic Zone, the development zones at Mafraq, Ajloun, Irbid, and the Dead Sea, and free zones administered by the Free Zones Corporation. Work covers the licensing application and the entity-formation documentation required by the relevant zone authority, the customs and tax positioning of the entity within the zone's regime, the corporate documentation that supports the entity's commercial activity, and the ongoing regulatory filings and renewals that follow. The practice also coordinates the choice of zone with the wider investment structure where the client is comparing zones or considering a parallel entity outside a zone.

Yes. Where the activity requires a Jordanian counterparty, the Investment practice drafts and negotiates the shareholder agreement, the side letters, the governance framework, and the operational documentation that allocate rights, obligations, and dispute-resolution paths between the foreign investor and the Jordanian counterparty. The practice positions the documentation so that management decisions, dividend rights, transfer restrictions, deadlock procedures, and exit mechanics protect the foreign investor and operate practically under Jordanian commercial law. Where the activity does not require a Jordanian counterparty, the practice advises on a wholly-owned structure and the documentation appropriate to it.

Yes. The Investment practice coordinates the residency permits, the work permits from the Ministry of Labour, and the Social Security Corporation registration that foreign executives, employees, and consultants relocating to Jordan require. For larger workforces, the practice manages the permit and registration cycle on a portfolio basis alongside the operating entity's HR function. The work is run in coordination with the firm's employment and labour practice where the matter touches employment contracts, internal policies, or sector-specific labour-permit regimes.

The principal statutes are the Investment Environment Law No. 21 of 2022 (which replaced the earlier Investment Law No. 30 of 2014) and the Jordanian Companies Law No. 22 of 1997 and its later amendments. Jordan's Competition Law No. 33 of 2004 applies to transactions where competition-law coordination is required. The Personal Data Protection Law No. 24 of 2023 applies where the investment touches personal data. Jordanian Bar Association Law No. 11 of 1972 governs the firm's professional conduct, with Article 54 directing every lawyer to uphold the principles of “honour, uprightness, and integrity”. The principal regulators are the Ministry of Investment, the Companies Control Department, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Labour, the Social Security Corporation, and the sector-specific Jordanian regulators that govern the relevant industry.

Fee structures for investment matters are agreed during the conflicts review and matter scoping stage of the firm's engagement process, before the engagement letter is issued. Hourly rates are used for advisory work and matters where scope cannot be defined at the outset. Fixed fees are used for defined-scope deliverables such as company formation, free zone applications, and standard licensing dossiers. Capped fees are used for transactional matters where scope is clear at the outset. Retainers are used for outside-general-counsel engagements with foreign-owned Jordanian operating subsidiaries. The firm does not act on a contingency basis on any matter, consistent with the standards set by the Jordanian Bar Association under Law No. 11 of 1972. The engagement letter records the agreed fee structure, billing cadence, and the firm's confidentiality and conflicts policies.

New investment matters reach the firm through info@abdullahfirm.com, by phone, WhatsApp, or Telegram on +962 79 566 6696, or through the firm's online intake form. The intake team responds within six working hours during the office's working week. Each new matter is checked against the firm's conflicts policy and reviewed for scope. Where the firm accepts the engagement, an engagement letter is issued setting out the scope of the investment work, the fee arrangement (hourly, fixed, capped, or retainer), the lawyers assigned to the matter, and the terms of the relationship. The lead lawyer in the Investment practice coordinates the file, with supporting lawyers from the relevant clusters contributing where their expertise is required. Cross-border matters are handled with the firm's senior team direct involvement throughout.

Political and regulatory risk is addressed through a combination of contractual, structural, and treaty-based protections, calibrated to the matter and the sectors involved. At the contractual level, the firm drafts dispute-resolution clauses, governing-law clauses, force-majeure provisions, and change-of-law mechanics that allocate risk between the parties before it crystallises. At the structural level, the firm advises on investment vehicle and ownership arrangements that position the matter under the bilateral investment treaties and double-taxation agreements that apply between Jordan and the investor's home jurisdiction. The Personal Data Protection Law No. 24 of 2023, the Investment Environment Law No. 21 of 2022, and the sectoral regulators each carry their own continuing-compliance obligations, which the firm tracks for clients on a standing-counsel basis where the engagement covers ongoing operations. Where a matter requires international arbitration to resolve a state-counterparty dispute, the firm coordinates with the firm's arbitration practice.