Industry body presses for lower electricity charges

AMMAN — Jordan Chamber of Industry President Ayman Hatahet on Saturday called on the government to lower electricity charges for the industrial sector in response to the international decline in oil prices.

The sector is currently in dire need to enhance its competitiveness to help it penetrate new markets to compensate for those that are no longer available for national exports, such as Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Turkey, Hatahet said.

The industrial sector plays a vital role in the economic development process, directly accounting for 25 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP), and for 40 per cent of GDP when indirect contributions are taken into consideration, he added.

At around JD2.7 billion, he indicated that local industries accounted for more than 90 per cent of national exports in the first seven months of the year, noting that national exports in 2014 reached JD5.2 billion.

The local industry employs nearly 250,000 workers, more than 18 per cent of the workforce in Jordan, Hatahet said pointing out that the sector created around new 40,000 jobs over the past five years, ranking third, after the health and education, in terms of creating new jobs.