Jordan Times
Tuesday, February 15, 2005
Jordanian, EU officials push
for creating Euro-Med free trade area by 2010
DEAD SEA (Petra) — European Union (EU) and Jordanian officials examined on
Monday ways to promote trade and investment in the region in order to give new
impetus for the creation of a Euro-Med free trade area by 2010.
The participants underlined the financial and technical assistance that the EU
provides to the Kingdom, highlighting its positive impact to alleviate poverty,
reduce unemployment and foster socio-economic development.
The EU-Jordanian talks over three days come within the framework of the European
Neighborhood Policy — the EU initiative to deepen cooperation with the neighbors
of the enlarged union, including Jordan, a statement released by the Delegation
of the European Commission indicated.
Inaugurating the meetings, Lower House Speaker Abdul Hadi Majali indicated that
Jordan has taken large strides towards economic and commercial liberalization
through the signing of several agreements.
During the past few years, Jordan joined the World Trade Organization (WTO),
signed the EU Partnership Agreement and concluded several bilateral agreements
on free trade and Qualifying Industrial Zones, Majali told the gathering.
The Lower House speaker expressed appreciation for the financial and technical
assistance that the EU has provided to the Kingdom.
He thanked the EU for supporting Jordan's reforms to reduce poverty, promote
higher education and foster the role of the civic society and stressed the
importance of continued EU support.
“Despite higher levels of economic openness and regional reforms, socio-economic
indicators reveal the big gap between the European and the Mediterranean
countries,” Majali said.
He emphasized that the Kingdom looks forward to benefiting from the EU
partnership to fulfill various goals through boosting the Jordanian-EU
commercial exchange volume.
Hashem Dabbas, head of the Lower House Financial and Economic Affairs Committee,
stressed the significance of the EU assistance to the Kingdom, saying that
Jordan depends on it to build a regional model towards more growth and continued
improvement.
Dabbas indicated that regional challenges call for building bridges of
cooperation, noting the Kingdom's backing for the Barcelona Process since its
signing in 1995.
According to Dabbas, the Kingdom continued to attach special importance to the
values and objectives of the Barcelona Process despite the expanding gap between
the Euro-Mediterranean and the European countries and the fact that the results
achieved so far did not match expectations.
The participants are scheduled to review on Tuesday measures for Jordan's
attainment of a stake in the EU internal market as envisaged under the European
Neighborhood Policy.
Officials will look into the harmonization of Jordanian trade legislation with
the EU's own trade legislation to strengthen trade infrastructure, enhance the
protection of Intellectual Property Rights and reform public procurement.
Jordan was among the first EU neighbors that agreed on an action plan with the
EU in the framework of the European Neighborhood Policy.