Jaghbir, Pakistani envoy talk strengthening economic relations

Amman: Head of Jordan Chamber of Industry (JCI), Fathi Jaghbir, on Tuesday discussed with Pakistani Ambassador to Jordan, Muhammad Iqbal, ways to strengthen economic relations and trade exchange. During his meeting with the envoy, Jaghbir said Pakistan is one of the "large and promising" markets for Jordanian industries, but trade exchange is "still modest," as Jordanian industrial exports to this country during the year 2022 amounted to approximately JD11 million, compared to JD27 million in imports. Jaghbir also said Jordan constitutes a region that attracts foreign investments through its "distinguished" geographical location, which makes the Kingdom a gateway to the markets of Iraq, Syria, and the Arab Gulf markets. In this regard, he also referred to free trade agreements signed by Jordan, which make markets of many countries across the world "open" to Jordanian exports. Jaghbir welcomed organization of a Jordanian-Pakistani business forum in the chamber's headquarters to "closely" examine the two co untries' cooperation areas. Pakistan, he noted, produces many materials, especially agricultural crops, which are considered production inputs in many Jordanian food industries, in addition to its "advanced" level of fabric and textile industry. For his part, Iqbal stressed need to exchange information among the two countries' private sector activities to learn about joint networking opportunities, which contributes to enhancing volume of joint trade and investment exchange. The diplomat invited Jordanian industrialists to visit two exhibitions, scheduled to be held in Karachi for knitting and food industries. Jordanian exports to Pakistan are fertilisers, meat processing equipment made of cast iron and steel, while Pakistani imports to Jordan are concentrated in plastics and their products, knitted fabrics, fruits and vegetables, paper and textile materials. Source: Jordan News Agency