Jordan Times
Sunday, July 4, 2004
Exports to US to reach $1 b this year — Gnehm
By Rami Abdelrahman
AMMAN — The Kingdom's exports to the US are expected to hit the $1 billion mark
this year — breaking last year's unprecedented record of $650 million, outgoing
US Ambassador to Jordan Edward Gnehm has said.
Gnehm told a dinner hosted in his honour by the
Jordanian-American Business Association (JABA) that he felt confident that trade
relations between the two countries would keep improving at an accelerating
pace.
“In my view, we are only seeing the beginning of what will become an even
stronger and deeper trade partnership, provided we continue to work together and
address some of the structural and policy flaws that present barriers to future
growth,” said Gnehm, who completes his tour of duty this month.
Gnehm stressed that the public need to know the benefits of improved Jordan-US
trade relations, highlighting the importance of the Qualified Industrial Zones
and the Free Trade Agreement as a main driving force for the Kingdom's economic
success.
The QIZ and FTA agreements were signed by US and Jordan, giving the Kingdom a
preferential treatment by allowing its manufacturers to export quota and customs
free to the US, provided that the products meet the agreement's requirements.
Gnehm lamented that US exports to Jordan have remained almost unchanged over the
past several years, attributing this mainly to “barriers” such as the
pre-inspection programme DAMAN. This is compared to an increase in Jordanian
imports from non-NAFTA (North America Free Trade Agreement) regions such as
Europe.
At the same time, he continued, US investors are showing more interest in
launching joint ventures in the Kingdom, particularly in the information and
communications technology (ICT) sector.
“Some Silicon Valley investors said Jordan's goal to increase investments in the
ICT sector to reach $1 billion is underachieving,” Gnehm said.
He also expected Jordan's trade relations with Iraq to increase.
“Thanks to the rebuilding going on in Iraq that Jordan's exports there in the
first quarter of this year reached $131 million, a 54 per cent increase over the
same quarter in 2003, despite public perceptions that the exact opposite was
true,” the ambassador concluded.
Gnehm concludes his three-year term as US ambassador to Jordan this month and is
expected to take up a position at Georgetown University.