Jordan hosts meeting to discuss strategies to unleash $3.5 billion export potential

Jordan has the potential to increase its annual exports by $6.2 billion in the next five years. However, roughly $3.5 billion of this untapped potential is at risk of not being realized due to various market frictions, such as non-tariff measures.

An ITC-led survey with over 650 businesses held October 2023 to April 2024 shows that around 60% of challenges faced by goods exporters involve demonstrating compliance, especially through conformity assessments. Key obstacles include testing, certification, and product registration requirements from partner countries.

The survey also indicates that partners the Middle East and North Africa impose 80% of restrictive measures. In consulting services, 64% of exporters' issues are related to licensing, qualifications, and registration for market entry.

Ashish Shah, Director of the ITC Division of Country Programmes, said that addressing these and other challenges will demand a mix of different strategies. ‘Some require enhancing the efficiency of domestic procedures and public institutions; others require upgrading the technical capabilities of exporters.’

Private and public sector discuss strategies to tackle obstacles to trade

The Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply of Jordan and the International Trade Centre (ITC) organized a national stakeholder meeting in Amman on 3 July 2024 on these trade obstacles.

At the event, ITC presented the results of the survey highlighting the persistent challenges facing Jordanian companies in their import-export activities. The presentation of ITC’s survey results nourished the debates of three thematic roundtables held during the event.

Participants from the public and private sectors developed recommendations for improving compliance with technical requirements, upgrading infrastructure quality, streamlining trade regulations and domestic procedures, and assisting consulting companies seeking to enter foreign markets. The outcomes of the discussions will pave the way to turn Jordan’s export potential into reality.

Dana Alzoubi, Secretary General of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply of Jordan, opened the meeting, highlighting the importance of the ITC survey's outcomes in supporting the ministry's initiatives. Rodrigo Romero Van Cutsem, EU delegation representative in Jordan, noted Jordan's export advantages to the EU and other markets, praising collaborative efforts to overcome trade obstacles faced by Jordanian businesses.

About the Trade and Investment Facilitation Mechanism (TIFM II) project

The International Trade Centre (ITC), funded by the European Union (EU), is implementing the second phase of the Trade and Investment Facilitation Mechanism (TIFM II) project. This initiative aims to strengthen regional integration and economic links between eight Mediterranean countries and the EU by enhancing transparency of commercial information through the Euromed Trade Helpdesk online portal. Additionally, surveys of goods and services exporters aim to identify regulatory and procedural obstacles faced by small and medium-sized enterprises.