ABSTRACT
This chapter describes efforts to establish ail inter-Arab joint venture involving the participation of public international organizations and international companies and highlights several characteristics of such ventures. The Arab Potash Company (APC) is the first multilateral Arab economic venture ever to be conceived and, until 1974, the only such venture to be realized among Arab governments in the industrial field. From its inception, APC has commissioned a number of feasibility studies, operated a small pilot plant on the Dead Sea, and made numerous contacts with various foreign agencies and industrial companies regarding the financing of the project. In June 1969, the government of Jordan requested APC to return to its private shareholders the nominal value of their shares up to a maximum of 200 shares per shareholder. The originally envisaged inter-Arab joint venture was thus to be turned into a Jordanian/American venture with very little trace of joint Arab action.
