‘Three local companies apply to benefit from EU relaxed rules of origin’

AMMAN — Three Jordanian industrial companies have recently applied to benefit from the deal between the EU and Jordan on relaxed rules of origin, Secretary General of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply Yousef Shamali said on Monday.

Speaking at the second forum of industrial and commercial attachés in Arab and foreign embassies in the Kingdom, Shamali said that Jordan’s public and private sectors face similar challenges as a result of regional conflicts and the closure of the Kingdom’s traditional markets.

At the event — organised by the Jordan Chamber of Industry (JCI) with the support of the USAID Jordan Competitiveness Programme and the Danish-Arab partnership programme — he highlighted the importance of boosting partnership between public and private sectors, adding that the EU-Jordan deal serves such a goal.

The secretary general also noted that the ministry is currently holding talks with several countries, especially in Africa — Kenya in particular — to find new export markets, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Under the decision, Europeans have allowed made-in-Jordan products to utilise more than 70 per cent of production inputs from non-local materials. 

A total of 18 industrial and development zones are included in this move, while the relaxed rules will also be applied to other industries across the Kingdom once 200,000 jobs for Syrian refugees are created and when those Syrians are issued work permits.

Speaking at the forum, JCI President Adnan Abul Ragheb highlighted the chamber’s role in helping the industrial sector develop local products and increase its commercial exchange with foreign markets.