Following ‘great regression’ in sector, free zone vehicle clearances see upward trend

AMMAN — The free zone in Zarqa saw the clearance of 32,192 vehicles in 2019, President of the Jordanian Free Zones Association Mohammad Bustanji said in a statement issued on Sunday. 

Around 67,000 vehicles were reexported last year, Bustanji said, noting that the total number of vehicles processed in the zone reached 99,573, including both cleared vehicles and those that were reexported. 

Bustanji added that the government’s decision to reconsider taxes imposed on vehicles “reflected positively”, noting that clearance of fuel-cell and diesel vehicles increased by 56 per cent in December of 2019 compared with November of the same year. 

The association president also said that clearance of hybrid vehicles increased by 93 per cent and clearance of electric vehicles increased three-fold. 

Highlighting the figures, he noted that 2,039 gas and diesel vehicles were cleared in December of last year, compared with 1,301 the month before, while hybrid vehicles cleared in the same period went from 1,187 to 2,295. 

As for electric vehicles, 134 were cleared in December, compared with 40 in November, he added.

The first 10 months of 2019 witnessed a “great regression” in the vehicle sector at the free zone, but after the government measures during the last two months, their positive impact “became immediately apparent”, he noted. 

The government lowered taxes on electric vehicles from 25 per cent to 10 per cent for vehicles with a motor capacity of up to 250 kilowatts and to 15 per cent for vehicles with a motor capacity of 251 kilowatts and above. 

The government also abolished the weight tax and replaced it with a separate 4-per cent tax imposed on the original total value of the vehicle.