Exports top industrial delegation’s agenda on Iraq visit

AMMAN — A Jordanian delegation of representatives from the leather and textile industries will begin a visit to Iraq on Saturday to explore investment opportunities and facilitate the flow of Jordanian products to the Iraqi market. 

The visit will be conducted in cooperation with the Industry, Trade and Supply Ministry to discuss a number of topics, most notably the list of Jordanian products exempted from Iraqi custom fees, president of the Jordan Chamber of Industry (JCI) Fathi Jaghbir said during a press conference on Thursday. 

In February, Jordan and Iraq signed a number of trade agreements, including one implementing a 2017 Iraqi Cabinet decision to exempt Jordanian products not produced in Iraq from custom fees.

Jaghbir, in a statement, highlighted that a number of meetings will be held with Iraqi officials to tackle challenges facing exports to Iraq, and to rectify issues such as a ban on shipping certain products by land. 

Leather and textile industry representative Ehab Qadri said that 14 companies working in the aforementioned sector will participate in the visit to expand the range of exports to Iraq. 

Qadri noted that the leather and textile sector in Jordan employs 73,000 men and women across 3,110 industrial institutions that export their products internationally.  

Jordan and Iraq also signed agreements in February that govern their cooperation in various fields, including a deal under which Baghdad will supply the Kingdom with 10,000 barrels of oil from Kirkuk daily.