Jordan Times
Friday, February 27, 2004
USAID director visits Jordanian firms
AMMAN (JT) — Anne Aarnes, Jordan Director for the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), joined the Jordan-United States Business Partnership (JUSBP) on a brief tour of several Jordanian private sector firms.Accompanied by a delegation of USAID officials, Aarnes was briefed on JUSBP's role in supporting Jordanian small- to medium- sized enterprises in overall growth development, export generation, and the Jordan-USFTA.
As a USAID-funded project, JUSBP, has, to date, assisted more than 420 firms by providing them with financial assistance to increase their sales and earnings, market outreach, competitiveness and employment.
At the Jordan Marble Company, the delegation was able to learn first hand how the programme's assistance generated an increase in exports to the US and contributed to an overall strengthening of the country's stone and marble sector.
Jordan Marble Assistant General Manager Khader Abu Khader said: “Several years ago, just the thought of exporting to the US seemed impossible. With JUSBP's support, Jordan has effectively been put on the global map as a producer of quality stone and marble. Our export sales have more than doubled this year.”
At Zara Natural Dead Sea Products, Aarnes was able to witness how USAID-funded assistance with packaging, US labelling requirements, product design, and participation at trade shows have helped Jordan's Dead Sea products sector create a global presence.
Zara General Manager Lama Abbasi, commented: “Generally speaking, growth has been quite good for this sector but there are still a few challenges to overcome.”
Looking ahead to their JUSBP-assisted participation at the impending international Cosmoprof trade shows, Abbasi noted: “The quality of our product is high and competitively priced. And the fact that we use natural ingredients of pharmaceutical grade, should give us a favourable edge over other products.”