Jordan, Palestine discuss advancing economic integration

Amman: Chairman of Jordan and Amman Chambers of Industry, Fathi Jaghbir, and Head of the Palestinian Federation of Industries (PFI), Nassar Nassar, on Saturday discussed ways to advance joint economic integration and cooperation, based on the brotherly "historic" relations. According to a statement issued Saturday, the two sides agreed on the necessity of "serious and real" work to establish the one-market principle, which contributes to enhancing "competitiveness" of Jordanian and Palestinian products in both markets, by providing all logistical facilitations, streamlining procedures, and removing obstacles. The two sides stressed the importance of facilitating reciprocal movement of goods directly, based on the door-to-door system, calling for ending the current mechanism, which impedes commodity flow and raises cost of products on the final consumer. Additionally, the two sides called for raising quality of products, manufactured in the two countries to contribute to enhance their competitiveness agains t imported items in the Jordanian and Palestinian markets, and make efforts to jointly target regional and global markets. Jaghbir and Nassar noted importance of implementing mutual recognition between the two countries' standards and metrology institutions, which contributes to the "easy" flow of goods reciprocally without obstruction or delay. The statement said the two parties agreed to hold a "close and expanded" meeting with all the two countries' economic stakeholders to discuss all the details and develop a road map to achieve economic integration. This step aims to replace industrial products in both countries, which would contribute to expand the industrial production base, open new production projects, provide tens of thousands of job opportunities and contribute to raise the mutual economic level, the statement pointed out. Source: Jordan News Agency