Jordan word

Maha Al-Ali, Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply, affirmed that Jordan has promising opportunities in investments, including the sectors of information technology, tourism and manufacturing industries.

Al-Ali added, during her participation in the first online Jordanian Expatriate Economic Conference organized by the Jordanian Expatriate Platform Association, that despite the geopolitical conditions surrounding the Kingdom, which are exceptional in addition to the conditions of the pandemic and its repercussions, the figures indicate that direct investments increased by 2.2% to reach A cumulative value of about 25.9 billion dinars last year.

She said that the government has taken a series of measures under the directives of His Majesty King Abdullah II in terms of facilitating citizens and investors, which contributes to saving time and effort in terms of business and investment, as well as the sustainability of the various economic sectors and mitigating as much as possible the repercussions of the pandemic.

She pointed out that these measures were reflected in stimulating the business environment and attracting investments, especially in sectors with high added value, pointing out that the ministry hopes that these measures will contribute to helping sectors with high added value in the national economy.

She noted that by reviewing international reports, there is a lot of improvement in Jordan’s performance in doing business; The Kingdom advanced 29 ranks in the report issued last year to rank 75 out of 190 countries covered by the report, noting that the last report placed Jordan among the most prominent 20 countries in light of reforms to a number of areas, including access to credit for the tax payment index, process automation, and the investor protection index. .

And she continued, “The manufacturing sector was able to raise the level of productivity, improve competitiveness, and build export bridges to foreign markets with joint efforts from the government within various programs on the one hand and the private sector on the other, for example, the clothing sector, whose exports reached 1.16 billion dinars during 2020, and the pharmaceutical products sector. Its exports amounted to 432 million dinars last year.

She stated that it should be realized that last year was an exceptional year in light of the pandemic and its repercussions on the economic sectors, stressing that the pandemic showed many opportunities through high competitiveness, such as the food manufacturing sector, which proved its role in food security during the pandemic as well as its improvement and development.

Regarding investment, Al-Ali said that investment is one of the main pillars of building the national economy and a major driver of job opportunities, especially since the Kingdom, due to the effects of the pandemic, is witnessing high unemployment rates, and therefore the important role of investment in creating job opportunities comes.

She stressed that there must be a package of investment incentives that encourage investment that is currently in the investment law, in addition to other legislative frameworks that support the investment process, such as intellectual property rights laws, export opportunities and markets that Jordan opens through agreements concluded with many countries.

She indicated the ministry’s efforts to open markets in East Africa, which are considered non-traditional markets, and with the private sector to maximize the benefit from the existing free trade agreement, especially the agreement with the United States.