Jordan News

The head of the Jordan Chamber of Commerce, Nael Kabariti, called on the government to take the necessary precautions to hedge against the global economic downturn in 2022, stressing that “there are global indicators in this direction.”

Kabariti said that these developments require efforts to address the difficulties still facing the national economy, referring to the government’s reform decisions aimed at stimulating economic growth, foremost of which is the reconsideration of customs tariffs.

Kabariti also referred to the message of His Majesty King Abdullah II as “a beacon of progress towards a better future for Jordan and future generations,” stressing the need to implement its economic content through a “real” partnership between the public and private sectors.

He also referred to the demands of the commercial sector that affect its business and are “still unfulfilled,” which requires expediting their resolution, criticizing some decisions issued by official institutions that contradict the government’s approach to carrying out economic reform.

He pointed out, in this regard, to the decision to cancel the indicative lists for the control of the Kingdom’s imports of clothes, carpets, and the “unmonitored” postal parcel trade, which negatively affects this sector.

He referred to the commercial sector’s belief in Jordan’s ability to overcome difficulties and challenges, and said that “creative” solutions must be found to overcome the obstacles facing the Kingdom’s economic activities by injecting more liquidity, enhancing citizens’ purchasing power, and postponing bank loan installments.

In this regard, he called for renewing the Jordanian tax basket by reducing sales fees and providing incentives to sectors that are still suffering from the repercussions of the epidemic, especially tourism, attracting foreign investment and supporting local investors.

He pointed out that the repercussions of Covid-19 affected the general indicators of the national economy, which shrank by (-2.2 percent) during the third quarter of 2020, compared to a positive growth of 1.9 percent during the third quarter of 2019.

Kabariti said that the severely affected economic sectors that recorded negative growth rates during the third quarter of 2020 included hotels, restaurants, transportation and warehousing, which are all service sectors that have “significant” contributions to the GDP and create job opportunities.

During the pandemic, he referred to the efforts of His Majesty King Abdullah II to manage the various aspects of the Covid-19 crisis file, and his continuous directives to governments to avoid greater economic losses and preserve the wheel of the national economy.