Plans under way to establish Jordanian-Palestinian company to boost agricultural trade

AMMAN — Plans to establish a Jordanian-Palestinian company for marketing produce constitute a step in the right direction, a sector representative said on Monday, noting that it will boost agricultural trade between the two countries.

President of the Jordan Exporters and Producers Association for Fruits and Vegetables, Saadi Abu Hammad, underlined that setting up a company that handles the marketing and exporting of Jordanian and Palestinian fruits and vegetables is an “admirable initiative”.

“The agricultural trade movement between Jordan and Palestine is very weak; very small amounts of fruits and vegetables are traded between the two countries,” Abu Hammad told The Jordan Times.

Setting up a marketing and exporting company will facilitate the exporting of fruits and vegetables between the two countries, he said, but noted that basic details on the creation of the company are still unclear.

“It [the company] will benefit the agricultural sector of both countries, but we need to have details on its nature, volume of capital and work mechanism,” Abu Hammad noted.

He also highlighted that the sector needs to have information on which crops the company will provide marketing for and which sector will be in charge of running the company.

“Several exporting and marketing institutions failed over the past years because they were given to people from outside the sector. In order for the planned company to survive, it needs to entail experts in the field,” he noted.

Abu Hammad highlighted that Jordan and Palestine grow similar fruits and vegetables because they share almost the same climate, noting that Jordan exports little amounts of tomatoes and cucumber to Palestine, which exports for its part limited amounts of carrots, potatoes and guava to Jordan.

Ministry of Agriculture Spokesperson Nimer Haddadin highlighted that the creation of the Jordanian-Palestinian company is a “recent idea”.

“Establishing the company is a new idea in the making… initial plans show that it will be run by the private sector,” Haddadin told The Jordan Times.

Haddadin noted that Minister of Agriculture Khaled Hneifat and Palestinian Minister of Agriculture Sufian Sultan met on Sunday and discussed the prospects of establishing the Jordanian-Palestinian company to export agricultural products, with the support of the two governments and the private sector in both countries and in cooperation with the Arab Investment Company.

The two sides discussed facilitating the flow of agricultural products between the two countries, pointing out the importance of encouraging farmers to produce non-traditional crops to increase the volume of exports.