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AMMAN — During an official visit to Turkey, the board of directors of the Amman Chamber of Trade on Tuesday inaugurated a new phase of total cooperation with the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce, to enhance bilateral commercial ties.

The board of directors agreed with their counterparts from Istanbul over several points of collaboration, including holding a Jordanian week in Turkey in 2020 to promote the Kingdom to investors and economic delegations, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra. 

The two chambers also made plans to launch an electronic platform to exchange information and cooperate on issues of entrepreneurship, Arabic language instruction and obtaining scholarships. 

The board called for activating a memorandum of understanding signed by the two chambers in July 2019, particularly in terms of expertise and information exchange as well as the training of employees. 

The board also called on businesspeople to increase investments in the Kingdom and utilise e-commerce channels between the two countries. 

The Amman Chamber of Trade, headed by Khaleel Haj Tawfiq, and the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce agreed to continue pursuing a free trade agreement, Petra reported. 

Haj Tawfiq said that an invitation was presented to the Istanbul Chamber of Commerce to send a delegation including their board of directors, businesspeople, industry people and merchants to visit the Kingdom and learn about available investment opportunities and tourist sites, in cooperation with the Amman Chamber of Trade. 

He also presented an invitation to the Business Development Complex general manager  to visit Jordan to help the Kingdom benefit from Turkish experience through the chamber’s entrepreneurship department.

Haj Tawfiq noted that the two chambers have agreed to enhance direct communication through employee visits and exchange of information, and to study mechanisms to increase Turkish tourism to Jordan. 

During a visit to the Istanbul Commerce University campus, the board reached an agreement with the university to grant the Amman Chamber of Trade several discounts and scholarships and establish a liaison office for the university in the chamber’s building in Amman. 

AMMAN — The Royal Scientific Society (RSS) and Jordan and Amman chambers of industry have begun a series of awareness-raising workshops for industries as part of the second phase of the EU-funded project "Transfer of Environmentally Sound Technology (TEST)", which seeks to develop new growth opportunities for Jordanian industries. 

The workshops are being launched in cooperation with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation to provide details on the implementation mechanism of the project and how to participate in it, according to a RSS statement.

The first workshop was conducted on Tuesday at the Zarqa Chamber of Industry and the second is scheduled for Wednesday at the Irbid Chamber of Industry, while the third workshop will be conducted on November 26 at Amman Chamber of Industry, the statement said.

The TEST methodology, which was implemented in 12 industries during the first phase of the project, will be implemented in an additional 10 industries: Five from the food and beverage sector and five from the chemical sector.

The methodology offers industrial companies an “integrated approach” that combines resource-efficient, cleaner production tools, an environmental management system and material flow cost accounting to achieve a “more sustainable production and better environmental performance for the business”, while also saving money and allowing businesses to invest and grow sustainably, the statement said.

The implementation of the first phase of the project, according to the statement, identified a potential annual savings of over JD1.6 million, which resulted in over 22,000 Mega-Watt hours per year in energy savings, 63,000 cubic metres per year of water savings, 400 tonnes per year of raw material savings and a reduction of 80 tonnes per year of landfilled solid waste for the 12 participating companies in the food and beverage sector, the statement concluded.

AMMAN — Out of its permanent commitment to support underprivileged cancer patients at the King Hussein Cancer Centre (KHCC), the Seven Mountains Initiative launched its Spanish Pyrenees 2020 campaign on November 18 during a press conference held at Zain Innovation Campus (ZINC).

The Seven Mountains Initiative aims at finding innovative strategies to raise funds to support people fighting cancer at the KHCC, with participants climbing seven mountains over a seven-year period with designated targets each year. 

These climbs aim to garner support for KHCC patients in their fight against cancer, which is "a mountain they climb daily".

“The real objective of this initiative is to lend a helping hand to underprivileged KHCC patients with a new team of students each year, with the aim of bringing a positive outlook by raising voluntary contributions to assist in the treatment of cancer,” initiative founder Louay Shomaly noted during the press conference.

Shomaly said that an expedition of 24 students, alongside a group of media personalities and influencers, will climb the Pyrenees, a range of mountains in southeast Europe, with a total donation goal of $100,000, which will be dedicated towards covering the medical expenses of KHCC patients.

Though money will be raised in part through conventional sponsorship packages, expedition participants are also free to “be creative” in bringing in sponsors and supporters, the founder added.

“Every year, we find new ways to attain our goal” Shomaly said.

The initiative was founded back in 2018 to encourage young people to make an impact on their communities and “do the kind of good that changes lives”. 

This expedition's team will begin training next month for their trip in July, which will be led by Jordanian mountaineer Mustafa Salameh, Shomaly said.   

Director General of King Hussein Cancer Foundation (KHCF) Nisreen Qatamish applauded the efforts of Shomaly and the 24 expeditioners, affirming her full support for the initiative.

The cost of cancer treatment is "staggering", the director said, adding that all donations will go exclusively towards easing the burden of medical treatment costs, which can "stretch anyone’s finances thin". 

"This initiative encourages youth from a young age to take responsibility in solving the challenges of modern communities, and Seven Mountains has various dimensions, as it is being implemented not only to collect donations, but to instill important values in [the participants],” Qatamish noted during the press conference.

AMMAN — Now in its fourth edition, the Week of Italian Cuisine in the World, which seeks to enhance the concept of the Mediterranean diet, is being marked in the Kingdom through a series of events. 

The Italian embassy, in collaboration with the Dante Alighieri Society and the Italian Trade Agency in Amman, seeks to intertwine food education with the presentation of Italian food products through a “varied and rich” array of events, according to an Italian embassy statement.

The week kicked off on Monday evening with the “CAKE” event at NOFA Creative Space, which witnessed the presentation of the book “Cake: The dessert culture between Arab and Western tradition", a manuscript that comprises art and cuisine, with the personal memories and the works of 19 international artists “joining in collective memories”, according to the statement. 

The week of events is set to continue with various cooking classes, introducing young and old students to a slice of “Italian culinary excellence” with the guidance of two Italian chefs from the Italian Chef Academy. The lessons are designed to be “interactive, educational and stimulating”, and include training in dishes such as pizza and pasta, the statement read.

Two events entirely in Italian at the Dante Alighieri Society of Amman will see the participation of historian, journalist and writer Alessandro MarzoMagno, a connoisseur of the history of cooking, fashion, publishing and finance, the statement said, adding that these events include a lesson-laboratory for students on the history of Italian foods, with the screening of videos on some foods of the Italian culinary tradition and the presentation of MarzoMagno’s bestseller “Il Genio del Gusto: How Italian eating has conquered the world”. 

With its focus on Italian cuisine, the “main vehicle of transmission of Italian culture”, the week falls under the plan "Living the Italian way" launched by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the statement said. 

AMMAN — The 20th National Olive Festival, which will feature olive products alongside traditional rural goods from the Kingdom’s governorates, is set to kick off at King Hussein Park in Amman on November 27 and conclude on November 30.

The festival, which is organised annually by the Ministry of Agriculture, provides an agricultural exhibition that “helps introduce the produce of Jordanian families and market it directly to citizens”, according to a ministry statement.

Considered the ministry's largest marketing, economic and social event, the festival “provides high quality virgin and extra virgin olive oil, which is examined twice to ensure that it is not corrupted”, according to Ministry Spokesperson Lawrence Majali.

In a phone interview with The Jordan Times, Majali said that “through sensory and chemical tests carried out in national laboratories and by accredited and specialised cadres, no oil in the festival can possibly be corrupted”.

During the festival, special booths for olive oil-pressing factories, governorates and their most well-known products, agricultural communities and organisations will be set up.

“I think one of the best additions to this year’s festival is that every Jordanian governorate will have a chance to display not only its olive oil produce, but all the other traditional rural products for which it is famous, promoting small economic projects on which rural families depend,” Majali said.

Kitchens that operate traditional Arab ovens will “create a hotspot in the pavilions of the festivals so that attendees can taste traditional food prepared using the olive oil”, he added.

The festival will also include seminars to raise awareness about the methods of proper food processing that allow for the continued care of olive trees after harvest.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah, in a phone call on Tuesday, expressed condolences and sympathies to Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the crown prince of Abu Dhabi and deputy supreme commander of the United Arab Emirates Armed Forces, over the passing of Sheikh Sultan Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE president's representative, according to a Royal Court statement.

AMMAN — The Ministry of Finance on Tuesday said that the decisions and procedures announced by the government as part of the second executive package of the economic programme will go into effect as of next week, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

The package included a tax cut on electric vehicles from 25 per cent to 10 per cent for vehicles with a 250 kilowatt engine capacity, and 15 per cent for electric cars with an engine capacity of 251 kilowatts or more.

The package also included cancelling the weight tax on vehicles and replacing it with a 4 per cent tax on the vehicle’s original value.

The ministry said that a decision from the Cabinet will accordingly require amending the current by-law in the Jordan Customs Department, adding that the government will accelerate the procedures of the amendment on the special tax by-law in order to stimulate the auto sector and enable citizens and investors to issue clearance documents for their vehicles according to the amended tax rates. 

AMMAN — Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev has received the credentials of newly appointed Jordanian Ambassador to Azerbaijan Sami Ghousheh.

The envoy conveyed His Majesty King Abdullah's greetings to President Aliyev and expressed Jordan’s keenness to bolster ties in all domains, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Tuesday.

For his part, the Azerbaijani president conveyed his greetings to His Majesty and praised the "deep-rooted" ties between the two countries on all levels.

AMMAN — Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) personnel have arrested 29 suspects in possession of narcotics and firearms in 20 drug cases, a Public Security Department (PSD) spokesperson said on Tuesday. Over the last week, AND agents have dealt with six drug cases in Amman that resulted in the arrest of eight suspects, the spokesperson said, as reported by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

In Balqa, AND personnel arrested six suspects in two cases, with one resulting in the detainment of two suspects in possession of three palm-sized sheets of hashish, 420 pills and some synthetic hashish powder.

In five cases in Irbid, AND agents arrested seven suspects, one of whom was caught with 14 counterfeit medical prescriptions. One case was registered in Zarqa, one in central Badia, two in Karak, one in Mafraq and one in Aqaba, the PSD official added. 

AMMAN — Jordan highly values Japanese assistance to the Kingdom in the fields of development and hosting Syrian refugees, Lower House Speaker Atef Tarawneh said on Tuesday. 

During a meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo, Tarawneh praised the Japanese stances that support UNRWA and call for a two-state solution that can guarantee regional security and stability and realise the legitimate rights of Palestinians, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Highlighting the impact of economic pressure resulting from regional instability and successive refugee influxes, the speaker called on Japan to deliver the second batch of the development policy loan of $100 million.

Following talks between His Majesty King Abdullah and Abe in Tokyo in November 2018, King Abdullah and the Japanese prime minister witnessed the signing of an agreement for a $300 million development policy loan granted by the Japanese government over three years to support Jordan’s budget.

During Tuesday's meeting, Tarawneh said that Tokyo’s  support to Amman in this regard shows the "deep-rooted" ties between the two countries.

He also voiced Jordan’s keeness to benefit from amendments to Japan’s migration law, which provide an opportunity for Jordanians to work there and attract further investments into the Kingdom.

For his part, Abe expressed his country's appreciation for Jordanian contributions, under King Abdullah's leadership, to realise peace and stability in the region, as well as the King’s efforts in the war against terrorism. 

The prime minister reaffirmed Japan's commitments made during the London Conference, pledging to deliver the second batch of the loan of $100 million. The first batch was delivered to the Kingdom in May, he said. 

Regarding Japanese investments, he noted that there are currently 19 companies operating in Jordan, adding that Tokyo is keen to increase its investment volume in the Kingdom.

Discussions also covered the Palestinian cause, regional developments, the war on terror and relevant cooperation mechanisms, according to Petra.