AMMAN: Technical meetings of the 2nd Session of the Jordanian-Turkish Partnership Council began in the Turkish capital Ankara on Thursday that was co-chaired by Secretary General of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply Yousef Al Shamali, and Undersecretary of the Turkish Ministry of Economy, Husnu Dilemre. The meeting tackled means to boost cooperation between the two countries, mainly in the economic field.
In remarks during the meeting, Al Shamali said that Jordan considers Turkey a strategic partner, mainly in the economic and trade fields.
He said the free trade agreement between the two countries is a major accomplishment that contributes to further boosting economic cooperation between Jordan and Turkey and encourage investments in the two countries. “Unfortunately, the agreement did not reflect positively on Jordan and Jordanian exports to the Turkish market did not rise since the agreement went into effect, ” he added.
Al Shamali said that the government will revisit the free trade agreement with Turkey if exports to Turkey do not rise, and the agreement does not contribute to attracting Turkish investments into the Kingdom. “The FTA did not contribute to increasing exports to Turkey as well as Turkish investments in the Kingdom” he said.
He added that revisiting the agreement has become a demand by the private sector as it did not benefit from the agreement due to the challenges facing it in the Turkish market.
Prime Minister Hani Al Mulki directed the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply last week to examine and evaluate all free trade agreements signed by Jordan.
Al Shamali voiced hope that Turkey would urge its private sector to increase imports of Jordanian products and encourage Turkish businessmen to set up investment projects in the Kingdom.
He said the current situation in the region, mainly the Syrian crisis and the closure of Jordan’s borders with Syria led to 17.1 percent decline in Jordan’s exports to Turkey which stood at $80 million in 2016 compared to $96.5 million in 2015.
Trade exchange is in favour of Turkey which exported goods to the Kingdom worth $665.2 billion in 2016.
During the meeting, the committee also discussed cooperation in areas related to investment, education, public works, tourism and customs.
The Jordanian-Turkish ministerial committee will hold a meeting tomorrow that will be headed on the Jordanian side by the Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Yaroub Qudah after which the two sides will sign the minutes of the meeting.
