Jordan Times
Tuesday, July 27, 2004
'Certified Trade Advisers
Programme' described as 'software' to boost Jordan's competitiveness
By Rami Abdelrahman
AMMAN — To bolster the international competitiveness of Jordanian small and
medium enterprises (SMEs), the government on Monday launched a training and
advisory project geared towards creating a national capacity and developing
human resources.
The project, known as the “Certified Trade Advisers Programme,” will transfer
over the coming 20 months skills and know-how to enterprises' managers to help
them diagnose and solve problems concerning management, exporting and the
application of information and communications technology to trade.
During the inauguration ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Industry
and Trade Mohammad Halaiqa said “the private sector needs to focus on creating,
reinforcing and sustaining the country's trade competitiveness.”
This programme, he indicated, is the “software” to reaching our competitiveness
goals, while the government will remain the “hardware” giving the proper
environment to do so.
The programme will address two main tracks, managing enterprises and designing
competitive strategies on the one-hand, and identifying sector and enterprise
needs on the other.
Participating in the programme, the Geneva-based International Trade Centre
(ITC) said the trade geography of the world is changing, and emerging countries
like Jordan need to increase its competitiveness through such programmes, while
focussing also on bringing benefits to the society to contemplate growth rates.
“This programme is a good step towards helping trade advisers in Jordan
understand Jordan's special agreements like the Jordan-US Free Trade Agreement,
giving them different business opportunities,” ITC's chief of Enterprise
Management Development Section, Osman Ata Atac, said.
He noted that the business community included in this programme's training
session must take action towards improving the Kingdom's competitiveness
internationally.
The programme is funded by the US Agency for International Development (USAID)
through the Jordan-US Business Partnership project, while the ITC and the Jordan
Exporters Association helped realise this initiative.
USAID's mission director, Anne Aarnes, underlined this programme as another
indication of the US commitment to support the government's economic
liberalisation reforms.
“We believe that economic and political stability are allies (in Jordan), and
when we invest in trade, we are investing in peace,” Aarnes concluded.