ISLAMABAD: The Ambassador of Jordan to Pakistan, Ibrahim Almadani, on Friday said he was resolved to facilitate Pakistani businesses that wanted to explore investment opportunities and form joint ventures with Jordanian companies.
The comments come a day after the Jordanian envoy along with Dr. Maen Khareasat, minister plenipotentiary at the Jordan embassy, visited the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) on Thursday and met ICCI president Sardar Yasir Ilyas Khan and his team.
“Jordan is a free market economy with free economic zones which have passed through major reforms during the last two decades,” the envoy told Arab News. “We would like to increase the volume of trade with Pakistan. Our meeting with the ICCI delegation was part of this and remained very positive. We will facilitate the movement of Pakistani business community to Jordan as much as possible”.
“Jordan has strong and historic relations with Pakistan based on mutual respect and shared values,” Almadani said. “We intend to enhance bilateral trade ties by intensifying our relationship with the private sector in Pakistan.”
He said both countries had great potential to increase trade ties in the manufacturing, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, defense industries and tourism sectors.
Ambassador of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan Ibrahim Almadani (right from center) meets with a delegation of the Islamabad Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Islamabad, Pakistan, on February 11, 2021. (Photo Courtesy: Islamabad Chambers of Commerce and Industry)
The most important way to enhance bilateral trade was through business-to-business cooperation and people-to-people contacts, Almadani said.
“There will be high level visits of trade delegations in the coming months,” he said. “We are promoting Jordan in Pakistan and at the same time Pakistan in Jordan because benefits will not be gained unless both sides are not interested.”
The envoy said the total volume of bilateral trade currently stood at around $50 million, while the trade balance was in favor of Pakistan.
“Pakistani products that can be exported to Jordan include fabric, garments, agriculture seeds, machinery and spare parts, oil, juices, cotton, fiber optics, paper, leather and many more,” he said. “Jordan is exporting to Pakistan fertilizers, iron, pharmaceuticals, plastics, processed food products, some agricultural products and machinery”.
ICCI President Khan urged Pakistan and Jordan to sign a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) to remove trade barriers and boost trade volume.
“We have a long history of bilateral trade and volume of trade is very low,” Khan told Arab News. “We still don’t have a FTA in place. We discussed placing an FTA in order to enhance bilateral trade and facilitate the business community of both countries.”
He said ICCI has proposed to Jordan to start joint productions as labor was cheaper in Pakistan than Jordan and Jordanian companies could benefit from installing their manufacturing plants in Pakistan.
“We are planning to organize an industrial expo in Pakistan in the next three months where we will invite a business delegation from Jordan to come and see the opportunities of joint ventures in products and services,” Khan said, adding that the Jordanian ambassador had responded positively to the idea of exchanging trade delegations.
“This expo will consist of products from all over Pakistan,” the ICCI president said. “When they will see the mass production capabilities of Pakistani factories, they will have a better understanding of our capacity which will be helpful in forming joint ventures. After the expo, we will also take a delegation to Jordan consisting of businessmen from different chambers of commerce from all over Pakistan.”
