President of Jordanian Businessmen Association (JBA), Hamdi Tabba’a, discussed with Deputy Economic Counselor at the US Embassy in Jordan, Christopher Leslie, ways to enhance cooperation in multiple bilateral economic, trade and investment issues of common interest.
During the meeting held Tuesday, Tabba’a presented the association’s efforts to enhance Jordanian-U.S. relations, expressing his aspiration to establish joint business councils that strengthen economic relations between the two countries’ business communities.
Tabba’a said this future effort should focus on supporting investment projects in Jordan’s “promising” economic sectors to achieve joint economic and social interests, Tabba’a also stressed the importance of developing an action program to develop mutual investment and economic relations during the coming year and work to remove obstacles facing the two countries’ investors.
The volume of U.S. investments in Jordan amounted to approximately $196 million in 2023, marking an increase of 2.3%, compared to 2022, while the volume of U.S. investments in the Amman Stock Exchange amounted to approximately $94.8 million in 2023, he pointed out.
Meanwhile, Leslie stressed that Jordanian-U.S. relations always offer “rich” economic, commercial and investment cooperation, adding that the success of the free trade agreement signed by the two countries reflected extent of Jordan’s commitment to its obligations to develop and provide a legislative environment that stimulates trade and investment.
Leslie noted the importance of working to increase the volume of trade exchange, Leslie pointed out that the Kingdom’s recent economic, administrative and political reforms contributed to supporting the Jordanian economy, Furthermore, Leslie hoped that the Kingdom will become a “pioneer” in the region and the first destination in the business environment and “advanced” investment projects.
For their part, the JBA’s board members went over a set of issues of interest to the Jordanian business community, affirming need to enhance investment opportunities in the medical, industrial, energy, mining and financial sectors, and intensify meetings for Jordanian and American businesspeople.
