‘Industrial sector key job generator, can lead development’

AMMAN — The industrial sector employs more than 240,000 people in some 18,000 industrial facilities across the Kingdom, most of them Jordanians, constituting 20 per cent of the total local workforce, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Saturday.

In an interview with Petra, Jordan Chamber of Industry (JCI) President Adnan Abul Ragheb said that the average number of workers at each industrial facility stands at 13, compared to 2.3 workers at any other sector, making it the “most capable” economic sector to generate jobs.

World Investment Report 2016, which was issued by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development and evaluates the impact of foreign investment, showed that the Kingdom’s industrial sector amounted to 86 per cent of the new total investments in Jordan between 2011 and December 2015, he said.

The performance of the industrial sector in 2016 was below expectations, the president said, stressing that local industry can lead the development process if it receives some support.

Industrial exports in 2016 declined by 3.2 per cent, standing at JD5.17 billion, compared to JD5.34 billion in 2015, Abul Ragheb noted.

The decrease of industrial exports was accompanied by a drop in national exports by some 9 per cent in 2016, which highlights the importance of the industrial exports that constitute more than 90 per cent of the total national exports, he added.

On challenges facing the sector, the president said that Jordanian products suffer from high costs of production, lack of trained workforce and continuous change of laws, noting that addressing such challenges requires real partnership between the public and private sectors.

In this regard, he said that public-private partnership should not be limited to enacting laws, but should include cooperation in preparing economic plans in order to achieve sustainable development. 

Abul Ragheb also stressed the need for the government to consult the private sector when signing commercial agreements with other countries.