Jordan to establish logistical airport in Mafraq

AMMAN — The government has reached an agreement with a US company to establish a logistical airport in Mafraq, Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Yarub Qudah said on Saturday. 

Opening the third Silk Road Conference, which is organised by the Palestinian-Jordanian Business Forum, Qudah added that a logistical centre will also be established in Mafraq, 80km northeast of Amman, to become a major base for reconstruction projects in the region, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

He noted that the government had prepared a plan with the World Bank to render the Kingdom a main platform for regional reconstruction projects, in cooperation with other countries in the neighbourhood.

The minister, who opened the conference on behalf of Prime Minister Hani Mulki, said that the government will implement recommendations of the conference, which will contribute to promoting bilateral ties and removing obstacles facing cooperation among businesspeople.

In this regard, he urged businessmen to consider economic opportunities in the region and leave governments to address challenges.

Qudah described the conference as a real platform to develop cooperation, partnerships and commercial agreements among participating businesspeople, urging them to focus on entrepreneur opportunities involving youth who can offer “outstanding and feasible” ideas.

He added the government had prepared and approved a legislation package that helps improve the business environment in the Kingdom, including laws on companies, inspection and oversight, financial securities and intellectual property, among others.

The minister noted that the national economy is based on openness and economic liberation, while the trade agreements the Kingdom has entered with regional and international partners secure access to more than 1.2 billion consumers at preferential terms. 

Jordanian-Palestinian Business Forum Chairman Talal Al Bau said that the government has produced laws that help provide the facilities needed by local and foreign investors.

He said the presence of businessmen from 30 countries underlines the fact that Jordan is rich in investment opportunities and is an attractive and secure investment destination.

Bau said that the forum, which comprises 250 member businessmen, looks at openness to the Palestinian market as a higher Jordanian interest and has to be supported to get rid of dependency on the Israeli economy, whose annual exports to Palestine amount to $5 billion.

President of the Jordan Businessmen Association Hamdi Tabbaa voiced hope that the conference, which is attended by 500 businessmen from 30 Arab and foreign countries, will succeed in promoting the Kingdom as a regional investment centre and exchanging expertise among participants.

Tabbaa noted that business entrepreneurship and start-up projects are the major contributors to economic development, while poverty and unemployment are the main challenges in the Arab world.

Khalil Rizeq, president of the Palestinian union of commercial, industrial and agricultural chambers, said that Jordan is Palestine’s gateway to the world, noting that achieving economic growth is a main motive behind efforts to enhance the resilience of Palestinians and help them face Israeli policies. 

Investing in Palestine is a religious, national, moral and social responsibility of the private sectors in the Arab and Islamic worlds, he said, calling for holding joint investment projects with the Palestinian private sector.

Rizeq urged Jordanian and Palestinian businesspeople to increase the volume of trade exchange that stood in 2016 at JD126 million.