Alrai - Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Dr. Tariq Al-Hammouri said that the ministry continues to implement the necessary measures to protect the national industry, especially with regard to cases of dumping the local market from imported products.

During the meeting organized by the Jordanian Investors Association yesterday, he called on the industrial sectors that suffer from dumping the local market from their imported counterparts to submit a request to the ministry to take the necessary measures in accordance with the procedures and requirements of the World Trade Organization for protection.

He said «the government is not ashamed to apply the principle of reciprocity with countries that impede the entry of Jordanian products to their markets», referring to measures taken in this regard with Syria and Turkey.

He said that the industrial sector is the most important tributary of the national economy, and that the support of industry is a support for the national economy, pointing out that the problems facing the sector began the ministry to deal with them and work to solve them.

He stressed the importance of focusing on increasing exports, considering that the discharge of national products in the domestic market alone is not enough for the growth and development of the industrial sector.

He explained that the trade balance with the Arab countries is in the interest of the Kingdom in the event of the exclusion of imports of oil and energy, which means that the national industry has the ability to compete and enter new markets.

On the problems facing the sector, Hammouri said that since the end of last year, the ministry has formed technical committees in cooperation with industry chambers to prepare a matrix that includes problems and challenges facing each sector and possible solutions.

He pointed out that the ministry holds a weekly meeting with industrial sectors to discuss the problems and solutions proposed to solve them, calling on the industrial sector to the need to communicate with the representative to identify problems with various government agencies in preparation for solving them.

In turn, Fathi Al-Jaghbir, Chairman of the Jordan and Amman Chambers of Industry, stressed the need to apply the principle of reciprocity with countries that hinder the entry of Jordanian products into their markets, in addition to reviewing the costs of production, especially in relation to energy to support the competitiveness of national products internally and externally.

The Chairman of the Investors Association Bassam Hamad said that the industrial sector suffers from problems and challenges that require quick solutions to ensure the continuity of the national industry, stressing that solutions to the problems facing the sector should be logical and applicable.

During the meeting, the industrialists presented a number of challenges and problems that concern the sector, especially with regard to the high production costs, the absence of fair competition within the local market, the lack of trained and qualified labor, and the difficulty of obtaining the necessary finance for the sector. They called for the application of specifications to imported products and to facilitate the entry of Jordanian products to the markets of the region, and review the agreement signed with the Vocational Training Corporation to facilitate the training and rehabilitation of labor and meet the needs of the sector, and protect the local product.

Hammouri visited a number of factories operating in King Abdullah II Industrial City and listened to the problems and challenges facing the work of the industries.

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