From initiative to impact: Aqaba launches CSV to promote responsible investment and genuine community empowerment
By Counselor Omar Al-Samadi – In Aqaba today, under the patronage of the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone Authority, and in the presence of a number of commissioners, department directors, representatives of major investment companies, civil society organizations and businessmen, the Community Shared Value (CSV) project was launched, in a step that is supposed to establish a new phase of real partnership between the administration and the community.
The idea itself is advanced and valuable, but the challenge is not in launching initiatives, but in transforming them into a well-defined institutional work program with specific goals, measurable performance indicators, timelines, and responsibilities for implementation and follow-up. Any initiative that does not turn into an implementation plan will remain a beautiful theoretical framework without a tangible impact… This is what caught my attention in the session, where we listened to and saw a plan that seemed well-structured, presented to the audience by Dr. Murad Al-Bawab, who provided extensive explanation and clarification, with interventions from His Excellency the Head of the Authority to provide broader clarification and confirmation.
What is required today is to speak clearly about sustainability, not seasonality; about institutional linkages, not individual initiatives; about community service linked to developmental returns; and about measuring the real impact and returns of initiatives on the local community.
It is no secret to anyone that since His Majesty the King launched the Aqaba Special Economic Zone project, a national project with a global dimension, it is natural for the entire community to feel its positive results, in terms of quality job opportunities, real empowerment, support for small projects, partnerships with the private sector, and the creation of sustainable added value.
Furthermore, after 25 years of the Aqaba Special Economic Zone, we have reached convictions accumulated from experiences that the goal of holding meetings in hotels, theaters and halls has gone beyond the stage of protocols for exchanging words and smiles. We (as His Excellency Abu Abdullah said in the meeting) meet daily in offices and in committee meetings. The most important thing is to leave the halls and go to the field, develop ideas, discuss them boldly, implement them, follow up on them and measure their impact.
The management of ambitious economic zones carries a vision and a message to the world, of course no less important than its message to the interior. Therefore, I and the majority believe that involving the local community in making some decisions is a kind of administrative prudence, indeed a strategic necessity, provided that it is a systematic partnership with limits and not absolute, built on clear tools, real representation, and accountability mechanisms, because simply put, Aqaba has what it takes to be a model to be emulated, with institutional work, transparency, follow-up, and measuring results, considering that initiatives begin with an idea… but success begins with implementation.
As for the major investments that found in Aqaba an attractive environment, a flexible legislative structure, and competitive incentives, they are required today to elevate their concept of community presence from seasonal donations to genuine development partnerships. A successful investor does not measure his success only by the size of his profits, but by the size of the added value he creates in his surroundings, in terms of: - How many quality job opportunities did he create? How many local resources did he support? How many young people did he train, empower, and educate? How many small projects did he incubate? And what is the size of the environmental and social impact that he committed to managing consciously and responsibly?
Yes… society is part of the success equation, not just a recipient of donations and aid. Therefore, major investments must be linked to real training and employment programs, partnerships with civil society organizations, and sustainable educational, health, and environmental initiatives, rather than social responsibility remaining a promotional item at the end of the year in many projects that have benefited from Aqaba.
Transforming a CSV project into an institutional work program, with timelines, defined partnerships, and measurable goals, is a watershed step between a media-recorded initiative and a developmental approach that creates a sustainable impact.
Aqaba has the potential to be a national model for responsible investment… and the bet remains on the awareness of the partners that the best long-term investment is investment in the community itself.