Under the patronage of HE Prime Minister Dr. Abdullah Ensour and the Turkish Prime Minister HE Mr. Ahmet Davutoglu
JBA hosts the Jordanian- Turkish Business Forum
Under the patronage of HE Prime Minister Dr. Abdullah Ensour and the Turkish Prime Minister HE Mr. Ahmet Davutoglu , JBA and DEIK co –organized the Jordanian- Turkish Business Forum at the Royal Cultural Center on Sun. 27th March 2016 . In his opening speech HE Mr. Hamdi Tabba’a welcomed Jordan’s great guest and the accompanying business delegation headed by Mr. İbrahim Çağlar, Vice President of The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey, President of Istanbul Chamber of Commerce , he also welcomed Mrs Ruhsar Pekcan, Co- Chairman of the Jordanian- Turkish Business Council . he expressed gratitude for their Excellency’s patronizing this meeting which reflects the keen interest of both friendly countries to enhance the historic relations at all levels especially the economic field , and on behalf the Jordanian – Turkish Business Council , he thanked HE Mr. Sedat Onal , Ambassador of Turkey , for supporting the business council and his efforts to encourage the business communities relations and HEMr. Amjad Adaileh Jordan’s Ambassador in Ankara. H.E Mr. Hamdi Tabb’aa added that The Jordanian business community welcomes you in Jordan , the safe and stable country amid the unstable region , and we receive investments from all over the world especially our historic friends in Turkey , to which we hold great admiration for its successful economic achievements and we look forward to benefit from the Turkish experience in all aspects. And we hope that the presentations given two hours ago on the investment opportunities in Jordan and the bilateral meetings among business men will lead to investment projects in the different economic sectors.His Majesty King Abdallah II , gives special attention and care for the Jordanian business men through out H.M. various activities locally and internationally and HM gives special care to the standard of living for the Jordanian people especially the youth , and to attract investments benefitting from Jordan’s free trade agreements and the incentives offered by the special economic zones.And I seize this opportunity to congratulate the business community for the opening of TIKA Coordination Office in Amman hoping that it will provide support and assistance in the implementation of the grants and technical assistance offered by the Turkish Gov, to Jordan. The wise leadership of HM King AbdallaII enabled Jordan to overcome the challenges facing the economy amid this unstable region , and in this context , JBA stresses its keen interest to enhance the economic relations with our friends and partners at DEIK through the activities of the joint Business Council that was established 20 years ago , thanks to Mr. Serif Egeli ‘s efforts and support that enabled the council to achieve positive results or the benefit of both countries .The Business Council meets today for the second time since last Feb. during which the Council members were privileged to meet HE Dr, Abdullah Nsour , when HE asserted the Gov. willingness to provide all possible assistance for joint investments . To enhance the trade exchanges between both countries to overcome the closure of northern borders , the Council stressed the importance of developing the maritime transport between Eskandaron and Aqaba Ports using RO-RO system and to establish a regular line that will facilitate the shipment of raw materials and semi finished products to the Turkish investors in Jordan in order to benefit from the free trade agreements that Jordan enjoys , thus penetrating the EU markets and the Gulf markets.
In his speech , Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour highlighted the need for “co-production” and for Turkish industries and technologies to be based in Jordan, reiterating the government’s commitment to facilitating the required procedures.Once settled in Jordan, products of Turkish investments can benefit from the Kingdom’s free trade agreements with North America and Europe, he said. The premier added that developing a regular line for maritime transport between Iskenderun and Aqaba ports through the roll on-roll off system will significantly enhance commercial and economic cooperation.He also cited a great potential to enhance religious tourism, where Turkish tourists can visit a large number of shrines, highligting Jordan as the passageway of Turkish pilgrims on their way to visit Al Aqsa Mosque.For his part, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said advancing bilateral ties in the fields of economy, tourism and culture are central for mitigating the impacts
of regional unrest.He noted that the free trade agreement between Turkey and Jordan, signed in 2009, has increased trade volume from $55 million to $1 billion, yet economic cooperation should grow further.Davutoğlu said the Aqaba port is “strategic” to Turkish trade, highlighting Turkish Airlines’ readiness to increase the number of its weekly flights to Aqaba and Amman.
Mr. İbrahim Çağlar, Vice President of The Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey, President of Istanbul Chamber of Commerce addressed the participants praising the role of the Jordanian- Turkish Business Council role in enhancing the bilateral relations between both countries .
The Forum program included bilateral meetings between Jordanian businessmen and their Turkish counterparts followed by presentations given by HE Mr. Thabet AL-Wirr , Chairman of Jordan Investment Commission , Dr. Yousef Mansour , ASEZA, Dr. Abdel Razzaq Arabiat , Director of Tourism Board, and Dr. Bashar Hawamdeh, chairman of Information and Communications Association , during these presentations the investment climate and the investment and business opportunities were introduced to the participants.