JBA Chairman, Mr. Hamdi Tabba’a received on Sat. 8/8/2015
HE Mr. Sindiso Ngwenya, Secretary General of COMESA.
During the meeting HE Mr. Tabba’a explained that Jordan is seeking to penetrate African countries to compensate for traditional markets lost as a result of regional political and security developments.Tabbaa said that African markets have a lot of opportunities for the Jordanian industry that can meet part of the African needs.Investment-attracting environment, security, stability, infrastructure and geographical location constitute a good incentive for African investors and businesspeople to run their projects in the Kingdom, Tabbaa added, noting that Africans can also benefit from Jordan’s relations with The Arab Free Trade Area and FTA with the US, EU, Canada, Turkey , and Singapore . He also referred to accepting Jordan as an observer in the organisation in 2006, which allows it to develop mechanisms to activate economic collaboration with the common market. HE Mr. Ngwenya expressed willingness of private sectors in COMESA countries to develop commercial and investment relations with Jordan through signing a memorandum of understanding between COMESA’s business council and the Kingdom’s private sector represented by JBA and the commercial and industrial chambers.
He also invited JBA members to attend the Africa 15 international conference, which is scheduled to be held in Sharm Al Sheikh late October 2015 , and will focus on pharmaceutical products, ICT, commerce and energy. Mr. Ngwenya said the 20-country COMESA is an important market, since the group’s population reaches around 472.1 people with a gross domestic product (GDP) of $256 billion. He also noted that the average GDP growth for its countries is around 4.4 per cent, and Jordanian products can be exported to the group through the Red Sea.
He praised the Jordanian products’ quality and their ability to compete in international markets, stressing the importance of enhancing cooperation between Jordanian businesspeople and exporters with COMESA countries. Total Jordanian exports to COMESA in 2014 reached JD218 million, while imports reached JD472 million.
The meeting was attended by JBA Board Member Mr. Hussam Al Hudhud and Tareq Hijazi JBA Director General
