CAIRO, Dec 11 (Reuters) - Egyptian real estate company Amer Group has won approval to start building the $989.40 million Porto Dead Sea resort in Jordan over a period of seven years, it said on Thursday.

"We received approval for the general plan of the (Porto Dead Sea) project, in addition to building permits for the first phase of beach only," the company said in a statement posted on the Egyptian stock market website.

The project includes four five-star hotels, three malls and a health and spa centre.

The Dead Sea is one of the most popular tourist sites in Jordan.

Amer Group owns resorts, hotels, restaurants and shopping malls.

($1 = 0.7075 Jordanian dinars)

(Reporting by Ehab Farouk; Writing by Mahmoud Mourad; Editing by Michael Georgy and Mark Potter)