Jordan-Egypt Business Council concludes 22nd session

AMMAN — The Jordanian-Egyptian Business Council on Monday concluded its 22nd session between the Jordanian Businessmen Association (JBA) and the Egyptian Businessmen Association (EBA) in Cairo, on the sidelines of the Joint Higher Jordanian-Egyptian Committee's 30th session.

JBA Vice President Muhammad Bilbeisi stressed “the promising opportunities” of the economic partnership between Jordan and Egypt, noting that investment and commercial cooperation has great importance to Jordan, mainly due to quality features of the Egyptian market, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

He said that Jordan and Egypt are connected through bilateral and regional agreements, at the top of which are the Greater Arab Free Trade Agreement, which includes many Arab countries, the Agadir Agreement, the Bilateral Free Trade Agreement, in addition to agreements and protocols in the fields of energy, agriculture, customs, housing and international cooperation, among others.

The JBA vice president also noted that commercial flow between Jordan and Egypt is facing many obstacles, such as the pre-registration of Jordanian products entering Egypt and other complicated procedures, especially in the foodstuff and drug industries, which place a financial burden on the exporter and a potential delay of up to 60 days in Alexandria's port.

EBA Chairman Ali Issa said that the Jordanian-Egyptian Business Council, the first joint Arab council that was established in 1985, has discovered, through its 22 sessions, many joint investment opportunities. He also noted that the pandemic has delayed investment decisions for both sides.

Meanwhile, President of the Egyptian General Authority for Investment and Free Zones Mohammed Abdulwahab received president and members of the Jordanian-Egyptian Business Council, and stressed that Jordanian ventures in Egypt are qualitative investments that reflect the “experience” of Jordanian businesspeople. He expressed readiness to address any obstacles that hinder the start of any Jordanian investment in Egypt.

The volume of Egyptian investments in Jordan reached some $1 billion through 499 companies working in the energy and real estate sectors, where Egyptian investments in the Kingdom rank 21st in terms of countries investing in the Amman Stock Exchange during 2021 with a total of 27 million securities and investment volume of JD50 million.