Jordan Times
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
AmCham to provide new services to US companies
By Rami Abdelrahman
AMMAN A partnership agreement was signed
recently between the American Chamber of Commerce in Jordan (AmCham) and the
American-Arab Chamber of Commerce (AACC) in Detroit, an AmCham official said
yesterday.
Described as the main highlight of a recent trip by AmCham to the US, the
agreement is designed to kick-start the chamber's Trade-by-State Programme,
which seeks to create individual partnerships with different states in the US,
AmCham Chairman Azzam Shuwaihat told the press.
He explained that the agreement provides a base for establishing links with the
state's government stakeholders, private organisations, key trade centres, and
companies interested in doing business with Jordan, Iraq through Jordan, and the
region as a whole.
Under this agreement, AmCham will provide new services to US companies, such as
project research, trade and opportunity analysis, and industry reports.
Cooperation between both entities, according to the chairman, will start when
the AACC start helping promote AJEX 2005, a US-Jordanian exhibition and forum
organised annually by AmCham.
The agreement also pinpoints spheres of future cooperation, which include
exchanging business delegation visits in order to identify and familiarise
businessmen in Michigan with the local Jordanian business community.
Shuwaihat added that Detroit has the largest Arab-American business community in
the US, hence it was chosen as a first destination. The next destination will be
Chicago and Illinois.
Shuwaihat headed the Jordanian business delegation, whose trip to the US was
organised by AmCham and the US Commercial Services.
The delegation comprised of businessmen and representatives from the private and
public sector institutions such as the Jordan Investment Board, Al Tajamouat
Industrial City, Qualifying Industrial Zones, and representatives from law
firms.
Before heading to Michigan, the delegation earlier attended the International
Franchise Expo 2005 in Washington, DC. It provided the delegation with a
valuable opportunity to talk with experts, learn about franchises and gather key
information that helped them make their decisions about owning franchises,
Shuwaihat said.
The delegation also held meetings with the US Department of State, the US
Chamber of Commerce, EX-IM Bank, National Association of Manufacturers,
Jordanian Embassy, the World Trade Centre in Detroit, the Mayor of Detroit Kwame
M. Killpatrick and several private sector companies.