Historically, Jordan's economy has had close ties with Israel, Palestine, and Iraq. Relations with these countries are being normalized as progress is made toward peace, and continued progress toward development of the region as an economic zone will benefit the Jordanian economy. Today Jordan is poor in natural resources and lacking in water, and this has affected its industrial development. In agriculture, water resource constraints are among the reasons for agriculture's low shares of the GDP and the work force. Mining and manufacturing are likewise immature, apart from phosphate and potash production and related industries, labor-intensive processing industries, and the textile industry, but Jordan is actively engaged in fostering industry by introducing new legislation on investments, building industrial parks, and planning a free trade zone.
Tourism is an important source of foreign currency, and Jordan counts on it to grow.
Though Jordan is relatively well equipped with electricity, transportation, and other infrastructure needed for industrial development, further improvement is still necessary. The absolute insufficiency of water resources is a hindrance to development, of course, but so is the current inefficiency of water management and use as well as the inadequacy of water supply and sewage facility maintenance. With the country's only seaport, the Aqaba region is important as an entrepot trade base, industry promotion zone, and tourist site, and is being given priority in development. Job opportunities are limited in Jordan, due to the immaturity of domestic industry, leaving the people's livelihoods insecure. While Jordan's educational indices are high, the middle class, which is indispensable to industrial development, is too small to play a sufficient role, and education guarantees neither stability of employment or improvement in one's standard of living.