The Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply D. Tarik Al-Hammouri announced during the conference yesterday the amendments to the agreement, including the amendment of the condition of development areas, cities and industrial zones benefiting from the decision to include the geographic coverage of this decision all the Kingdom's lands, not limited to eighteen development and industrial zones, The decision to become until 31 December 2030 instead of 31 December 2026. 

He explained that the amendments came as a result of the efforts of His Majesty King Abdullah II during his visit last week to Brussels and his talks with European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker, which gave incentives to the Jordanian industries to increase their exports to the European markets, allowing the increase of the ability of Jordanian exports to access European markets and attracting foreign investment. To the Kingdom. 

He also added that the mechanism of applying the condition of employment of the specific number of Syrian refugees within the industrial establishment to not less than 15 percent of the total number of employees working in it or those working on the export line within the framework of this decision has been amended. Conditional on the total number of jobs to be provided to Syrian refugees. 

He pointed out that the new agreement reduced the total number of jobs required to provide Syrian refugees from 200 thousand jobs in the industrial sector to at least 60 thousand in various economic sectors, and that the European Union stipulated that the provision of legal and effective employment opportunities for Syrian refugees, A legal and effective legal opportunity for Syrian refugees, and any Jordanian company capable of exporting to the EU under this resolution will become subject to the conditions of the rules of origin stipulated and regardless of the condition of employing Syrian labour. 

The Minister pointed out that a series of measures emanating from the Covenant Document were agreed upon with Jordan and according to the outcomes of the Second Brussels Conference to Support the Future of Syria and the Region held during the period from 24 to 25 April, including the necessity of holding an investment conference for Jordanian-European businessmen before the end of this year. 

The Minister of Industry and Trade and representatives of the private sector said that His Majesty's visit touched on the economic burdens of the Jordanian economy due to the Syrian refugee crisis and the need for the international community to shoulder its responsibilities in supporting the host countries. And to stress the importance of continuing to support Jordan's efforts to achieve security and stability in the region. 

It was agreed to amend the decision to simplify the rules of origin with a view to overcoming the difficulties that prevented the hoped-for benefit from the resolution from being used in the previous version, and to ensure the maximum further simplification of the rules of origin, thereby increasing the ability of Jordanian exports to access European markets and attracting foreign investment. The kingdom. 

The EU Ambassador to Jordan said that the stability of Jordan and the economic prosperity in the Kingdom is very important and that the simplification of rules of origin agreement is not only important in the field of trade and exports, but also concerned with people, developing the business environment in the Kingdom, Decent fit with international standards. 

Jordan and the European Union signed the decision to simplify the rules of origin between Jordan and the European Union from the Jordanian-European Partnership Committee, which is one of the outcomes of the donor conference held in London in 2016 to help Jordan respond to the Syrian refugee crisis. 

On the same level, the head of the Amman Chamber of Industry, Eng. Fathi al-Jaghbir, said that the latest amendments and facilities to simplify the rules of origin will increase Jordanian exports to the European market, which did not exceed 300 million dollars last year against annual imports of 3 billion dollars annually. 

Al-Jaghbir explained that the facilities, which come as a result of His Majesty's recent visit to Brussels, focus on the provision of 60 thousand legal and effective employment opportunities for Syrian refugees, instead of the previous condition that required the employment of 25 percent of Syrian labour in any factory wishing to export to Europe. 

He explained that the new facilities included the inclusion of all existing factories in the Kingdom by agreement to simplify the rules of origin, after these facilities were confined to 18 specialized industrial zones, in addition to extending the agreement to 2030 instead of 2026. 

Al-Jaghbir pointed out that the facilitation of the requirements of the European rules of origin is a step in the right direction, but should also be followed by easing the requirements for obtaining subsidies and grants to factories. 

He pointed out that the extent of Jordan's benefit from the Association Agreement with the European Union is still limited, despite its importance, compared to other trade agreements such as the Greater Arab Free Trade Agreement and the Free Trade Agreement with the United States. 

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