Petra News Agency
Wednesday, September 14, 2005
Trade Minister Concludes Visit To U.S.
Washington, Sep.14(Petra)-- Minister of Industry and Trade Shareef Al Zu'bi concluded a few days visit to the United States during which he met with American officials and private sector representatives. Zu'bi meetings focused on the possibility of speeding the talks on customs tariffs on exchanged goods according to the bilateral free trade agreement. The minister expressed the hopes of government that such a step would increase the size of Jordanian exports to the U.S market as well as the American investments in Jordan. In a step to support the efforts of the Palestinian Authority, the minister called the U.S officials to ease the flow of goods between the Jordanians and Palestinians through easing the Israeli procedures on the crossing points. The U.S officials hailed Jordan's efforts to enhance national economy affirming their country's support to these efforts. Zu'bi also met with head of the board of directors of the US Export and Import Bank and discussed with him the possibility of establishing a joint investment fund in Jordan with a capital of $100m to enhance and finance investments. The size of trade between the two countries for the last year stood at $ 1600 million, $ 1100 million of which are Jordanian exports.