Industrialists seek closer cooperation with goodwill campaign

ZARQA — Members of the Zarqa Chamber of Industry (ZCI) on Monday expressed their keenness to institutionalise cooperation with the National Goodwill Campaign in terms of supporting and enhancing the industrial sector and providing job opportunities for the unemployed at ZCI factories.

During a meeting with HRH Princess Basma, president of the goodwill campaign’s higher committee in Zarqa, some 22km east of Amman, ZCI President Haidar Amaireh praised the initiative’s role in enhancing social unity and empowering underprivileged Jordanians.

He said the industrial sector is committed to assisting in the support of underprivileged people in line with its corporate social responsibility, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

ZCI board members requested assistance from the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD), which implements the goodwill campaign, to fill thousands of employment opportunities, especially in the garment and construction industries. They noted that the shortage of Jordanians willing to fill positions in these industries is seriously holding back growth, according to a JOHUD statement.

It was agreed that JOHUD will set up an employment office at the ZCI and use various means, including awareness campaigns, to secure women and young people with jobs.

Commending the industrial sector’s role in enhancing social work and promoting it in society, Princess Basma said the sector is a major component of the national economy.

Also speaking at the meeting, the Jordan Garments, Accessories and Textiles Exporters’ Association (JGATE) President Dina Khayyat stressed the importance of the partnership with the campaign in helping the needy and providing job opportunities for unemployed youths in the industrial sector, Petra reported.

Khayyat reiterated the importance of establishing a recruitment office at the ZCI to meet the industrial sector’s needs of local workers and contribute to curbing poverty and unemployment.

The goodwill campaign signed an agreement with JGATE to cooperate with its member factories and activate the role of recruitment offices at Princess Basma development centres, especially in Khaldiyeh due to its proximity to the Duleil Qualifying Industrial Zone.

During a visit to Duleil, 45km northeast of Amman, Princess Basma toured the EAM Maliban Textiles factory, according to Petra.

She also met with residents of Mabrukeh town and stressed the important role of the private sector and other supporters in the success of the goodwill campaign’s programmes and reaching remote areas.

At the town’s secondary school for girls, the princess distributed aid to 14 university students and urgent in-kind assistance to 300 underprivileged families.