‘Made in Jordan 2020-2025’ vision launched — ACI

AMMAN — The Amman Chamber of Industry (ACI) on Tuesday launched the “Made in Jordan 2020-2025” vision, in accordance with His Majesty King Abdullah’s Royal directives, which aim to boost self-dependency, achieve food security, and boost the competitiveness of Jordanian industry locally and abroad. 

The vision resulted from the “Made in Jordan” campaign, which was launched eight years ago by the chamber in partnership with various official institutions and civil society organisations, mainly the Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO), President of the ACI Fathi Jaghbir said during the press conference to launch the vision.

The aim of the campaign has always been to boost the trust in local products, allowing them to compete with their imported counterparts. The ACI, in cooperation with official and supporting entities, will support the new vision to continue boosting trust in Jordanian industry, Jaghbir said.

He noted that the local industry had witnessed large growth and development throughout the past 20 years, in spite of the challenges that faced it and limited its competitiveness. 

“In the upcoming five years, the chamber’s approach will focus on increasing the local market share of national products, and entering new markets by supporting factories and enabling them to export, achieving the Royal vision on self-reliance, especially in regard to food security,” the ACI president said.

The chamber, in cooperation with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply and the Ministry of Agriculture, began working on boosting agriculture to turn it into “a foodstuffs industry”, Jaghbeer said.

High energy costs, compared with neighbouring countries and some bureaucratic measures, constitute part of the challenges facing the development of Jordanian industry, he said, calling for implementing the reciprocity principle with countries that put hindrances against Jordanian exports to their markets.

Jordanian industries, during the coronavirus crisis, proved their ability to cover the needs of citizens of necessary products, Jaghbir added.

Iyad Abu Haltam, head of the “Made in Jordan” campaign and member of the ACI, said the vision focusses on boosting the quality of Jordanian industries, increasing their local share through partnerships and integration between factories and merchants, especially importers.

Through this way, Abu Haltam said, the purchase of local products increases, with a focus on developing their standard specifications and improving promotional products of industrial companies.

The national production share of the total local consumption stands at 42 per cent, at JD11.9 billion, while total consumption stands at JD28.2 billion, Abu Haltam said, noting that while the amount might seem “well off”, it remains under the desired percentage, especially in light of efforts to reach self-sufficiency.

The vision will focus on the betterment of industrial companies to export their products to new markets, in cooperation with the concerned entities, such as the Jordan Investment Commission and JEDCO, through launching programmes to internationally promote Jordanian industrial products. 

The committee supervising the “Made in Jordan” campaign will work on “setting clear standards to measure their level of success in achieving goals”, locally and in international markets, Abu Haltam said.

He also said that products with the label “Made in Jordan” will be of high quality and committed to Jordanian and international specifications and standards.