Trade Ministry urges accuracy in reporting sector news

AMMAN — The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply on Monday urged media outlets to ensure the accuracy of the reports they publish on challenges facing retailers of popular brand products.

In a statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra, the ministry said inaccurate news on this issue negatively affects the commercial sector and other economic fields connected to it.

The ministry is in contact with the Jordan Chamber of Commerce, the Garment Traders Association and the Amman Chamber of Commerce on what media outlets recently published about the intention of some companies that represent international brands in Jordan to exit the local market.

The Jordan and Amman chambers of commerce presented to the ministry reports on challenges and operational costs facing brand product retailers and malls.

Last week, Industry, Trade and Supply Minister Maha Ali met with owners of brand retailers and other trade sector leaders, Petra reported.

Ali listened to the owners’ notes and asked them to supply the ministry with a detailed study on operational costs.

The international brand retail sector is a vital and active one that witnesses the closure of some agencies and the opening of new ones all the time, the ministry said in the statement, adding that this is due to issues related to competiveness, the market’s size and changes in operational costs.

The ministry in 2015 registered 400 individual establishments and 248 companies selling clothes, adding that it took measures to facilitate importing operations and speed up customs clearance.

Moreover, the government has also taken measures to vitalise the business environment and economy by lowering customs duties and taxes on some commodities in the retail sector such as clothes, shoes, cosmetics and toys, the ministry said.