Almamlaka -  The head of Jordan's Chamber of Industry, Fathi al-Jaghbir, said on Friday that Jordanian exports benefited from trade agreements with the European Union "are still limited".

He said during a meeting with the new EU ambassador to Jordan, Maria Hadjithiudosio, that the volume of Jordanian exports nearly $ 200 million, compared with the volume of imports from the European Union, which exceeded 4.4 billion dollars last year, despite the "strong economic relations between Jordan and the European Union Especially after the signing of the FTA and subsequent joint activities. "

Al-Jaghbir attributed these figures to "a number of obstacles that are concentrated in promoting the Jordanian product within the EU market, and some other technical obstacles." "Despite the recent facilities granted to Jordan by the EU under the Agreement on the Simplification of Rules of Origin, industrial companies have not benefited as required from this agreement," he added.

Director General of the Jordan Chamber of Industry, Maher al-Mahrouq, pointed out that "the volume of Jordanian exports to the EU constitutes only 3% of the total domestic exports."

He added that "the agreement on the simplification of the rules of origin of the last similar concept of the accumulation of origin, which is applied in the free trade agreement with the United States, but the difficulty of finding a European buyer and linking it with the domestic product is what weakened the real benefit so far."

Al-Mahrouq said that the Jordan Chamber of Industry projects are being implemented with the European Union, most notably; a decent job opportunities project for Jordanians and Syrian refugees in the industrial sector, in partnership with the International Labour Organization and funded by the Netherlands, support from the Center for Import Promotion in Developing Countries of the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, etc. This project was followed by the establishment of a sustainable unit within the Chamber under the name of “Jordan Industrial Exports Services,“ Jordan Industrial Exports Services “JIES Unit”, where the unit will serve as a guide for the industrial establishments to build the right foundations for export success, especially in the European Union.

He pointed out that "the Chamber, with funding from the European Union, established in 2016, a national center for packaging, which is currently working to prepare laboratories to examine paper and cardboard in cooperation with the German Agency for International Cooperation, as well as the program of cooperation with the Danish Chamber of Industries and technical support included in various And especially small and medium enterprises, in addition to support programs for vocational training centres, and the implementation of projects to employ and train Jordanians.

The EU Ambassador, Maria Hadjithiudosio, said that she looks forward to "continuing and raising the level of joint cooperation, especially in the field of enabling industrial exports and increasing the flow of European investments to Jordan, so as to improve its economic growth and create job opportunities, taking into account the challenges facing Jordan, Given the regional events and the influx of refugees.”

The Ambassador expressed her “commitment to inform the European Union and its Member States of the problems facing the industrial sector in exporting to Europe duly”.

Regarding the agreement on the simplification of rules of origin, the Ambassador explained "her confidence to work together to address the obstacles, while emphasizing the need to publish Jordanian products and put a name on the map of Europe."

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