May 03 2018
The Qatari-Jordanian Economic Meeting began today in Amman, Jordan, to discuss ways and means of enhancing cooperation in various fields, including health and tourism sectors.
A number of businessmen from both countries participated in the meeting, in the presence of HE Jordan’s Minister of Industry Trade and Supply Eng. Yarub Qudah.
HE Chairman of the Qatar Chamber Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al -Thani said that the private sector should work on the strong ties between the two countries to enhance cooperation in various sectors of the business to build real economic partnerships that reflect the strength of existing relations and meet the ambition of the two brotherly peoples.
He noted that the visit of the Qatari business delegation to Jordan comes within the desire of the private sector in both countries to strengthen the existing relations between them and transfer them to higher levels of cooperation, which will affect the Qatari and Jordanian economies and meet the ambitions of investors in both countries.
He added that the Qatari economy continued despite the unjust blockade imposed on the State of Qatar since the fifth of last June, achieving good growth rates, and that the conditions of the blockade forced the private sector to enter new productive projects, especially in sectors such as food security, which resulted in many investment opportunities which could attract the attention of Jordanian investors.
HE Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammed Al -Thani appreciated the keenness of the Jordanian private sector to continue to supply the Qatari market with food commodities since the beginning of the unjust siege on Qatar and until now, where Jordanian products, agricultural commodities and food products have continued to flow to the Qatari market by air, sea, and all possible ways, which contributed positively to breaking the unjust siege, and reflected the close relationship between businessmen in both countries, expressing confidence that this meeting will open more broad prospects for cooperation between the two sides, and to conclude agreements between Qatari and Jordanian companies to promote trade exchange and raise it to higher levels.
He added that the investment relations between businessmen in both countries have witnessed rapid growth in recent years, where the number of Jordanian companies owned by 100% of Jordanian investors in the State of Qatar reached 127 by the end of 2017, while the number of Jordanian – Qatari companies operating in the State of Qatar is about 1340 companies, bringing the total number of Jordanian companies and ” Jordanian -Qatari companies in Qatar reached 1470 companies.
He said that bilateral partnerships supported the growth of intra- trade, but the logistical conditions resulting from the unjust blockade negatively impacted the volume of trade, where the Qatari exports to Jordan declined by 30 percent in 2017 to QR 563 million compared to QR 822 million in the previous year “But we are confident that the trade rates between the two countries will return to growth with higher rates in the coming years.”, he added.
Jordan Chamber of Commerce (JCC) President Nael Al Kabariti stressed the keenness of the Jordanian private sector to extend bridges of partnership and coordination in addition to open new doors for economic cooperation with its Qatari counterpart, pointing to the role that can be played by the joint business council between the two parties in this regard.
Al Kabariti called for the need to discuss any obstacles that may stand in the way of developing Qatari-Jordanian trade relations and working as a team to face the economic challenges facing the two countries from the depth of their fraternal relations.
He expressed hope that the next phase will witness deep economic cooperation between the two sides, and that Qatari investments in Jordan will be strengthened in new sectors and benefit from the opportunities available in Jordan to support the national economy and help provide job opportunities for Jordanian labor.
On the sidelines of the meeting, the Qatar-Jordan Joint Business Council held its second meeting, which discussed mechanisms of trade and economic cooperation between the two countries in all sectors, especially the health, tourism, food, pharmaceutical industries, agriculture, alternative energy, telecommunications and others.
The meeting discussed the establishment of specialized committees to enhance cooperation between the two countries and enhance the potential for stimulating all bilateral trade, overcoming difficulties facing investors in both countries, providing all required information, data and consultations, and providing technical assistance to companies in both countries, in addition to the opening of new electronic channels facilitate the exchange of information necessary to enter into new partnerships, and support logistics and investment opportunities in the field of warehousing and industry.
