Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply and Minister of Labor Youssef Al-Shamali affirmed that the government will not back down from its decision to reduce customs duties on many imported goods.

Al-Shamali said, during his opening yesterday of shops for international brands in Irbid City Center, and his meeting with many Arab investors, that the decision to reduce the clothes and shoes sectors in the first place, pointing to the government’s tendency to make reductions in customs duties for other goods and sectors in order to attract more investments, settle them and expand them.

He pointed out that the new investment environment law dealt with many challenges and issues of concern to the private sector, pointing out that the law gave a strong advantage to the stability of the legislation on which the investor bases his investment plans for a period of seven years without being affected by any change in the legislation governing investment.

He pointed out that any investment-related transaction submitted that was not answered by the concerned authority within 15 days is deemed approved.

Al-Shamali stressed that the economic development and modernization plan follows clear paths and constitutes a cross-government road map, developed in partnership with the private sector and meets the requirements of all parties, foremost of which is facilitating the flow of investment and its various chains, in addition to providing a commodity with international specifications and brands at competitive prices that are within the reach of the majority of citizens. In addition to its role in providing opportunities for national employment.

The minister praised the experience of Irbid City Center as a model for localizing investment in the governorates, providing goods with high-quality specifications, and introducing new international brands at reduced prices, which constitutes a motive for continuing the government’s approach to searching for ways to promote investment and push it forward at various levels.

Al-Shamali explained that it was a dream for the shopper in the governorates to find goods from world-famous brands, but it has become a reality in light of the policies aimed at reducing customs and tax burdens in a way that encourages qualitative investments in the governorates.

Al-Shamali stressed the importance of these investments, which provide thousands of job opportunities for local workers and their impact on the added value of the national economy, pointing out that some of the obstacles put forward by investors in some departments and departments of the Ministry of Industry and Trade will be taken seriously.

In turn, Representative Khaled Abu Hassan said that government decisions related to encouraging and stimulating investment are in line with the royal vision, praising the government’s decision to reduce customs duties on many imported goods.

Abu Hassan said that the commercial and industrial sectors provide about 800,000 job opportunities and are likely to rise to more than one million job opportunities in light of government measures supporting investment.

In turn, the head of the Greater Irbid Municipality, Dr. Nabil Al-Kofhi, presented the most prominent axes of the municipality’s development work strategy, stressing that the Municipal Council picked up the royal message of the need to develop the developmental dimensions of the nature of its work.

And he indicated that this strategy is based on three main pillars, namely, digital transformation in terms of reaching a smart green city that attracts investment and achieves human happiness, in addition to focusing on investment by forming a higher council for investment and municipal partnership, in addition to enhancing the climate and environment that attracts investment on the one hand, and investing in municipal assets.

Al-Kofhi considered that the billboard fees system for commercial stores needs to be reviewed and amended by reducing its fees, in addition to granting the right to transfer professional licenses from one investor to another.

Al-Kofhi announced that the municipality is in the process of preparing to hold its first conference, “a new development and investment vision.”

In turn, a number of Arab investors expressed their great satisfaction with the government’s decision to reduce customs duties on imported goods, stressing that their investments will return strongly to Jordan with greater activity and expansion.

They stressed the importance of the stability of the legislation governing investment, on which the investor builds his strategy and future plans and their economic feasibility.

For his part, the head of the Irbid Chamber of Industry, Hani Abu Hassan, referred to many government measures that contributed to increasing the competitiveness of the national industry in global markets and attracting investments to the governorate.

-(Petra)