Government seeks new export markets for local industries

AMMAN – Industry, Trade and Supply Minister Maha Ali said on Saturday that the government is working on seeking new markets for local industries to make up for drop in exports to traditional markets hit by instability. 

The minister told a group of industrialists, during the opening of factory for manufacturing glass in Rjayeb area in the southern part of Amman that the ministry prepared a business mission to Algeria last week and is planning another to Ethiopia before the end of this year.

A business delegation will also visit Canada in cooperation with business people, a ministry statement said. 

The missions, Ali said, aim at opening new markets for national exports. 

Iraq and Syria used to be the main markets, for Jordanian exports, but instability in the neighbouring countries forced the closure of borders for cargo movement. 

The minister cited recent decision by the Council of Investment that lowered income tax rates on projects at remote areas and less developed regions in the Kingdom, urging the industrial sector to take advantage of the incentives. 

Ali said the industrial sector is a top priority for the government, adding the ministry seeks to boost the competitiveness of local industries and the business environment in the Kingdom. 

In a statement emailed to The Jordan Times,  Jordan Chamber of Industry President Ayman Hatahet called on the government to give more attention to small and medium-sized enterprises by facilitating credit to them, and by urging banks to ease lending measures to the industrial sector.