King urges Jordanian, Turkish private sectors to boost partnership

His Majesty King Abdullah II on Wednesday urged the Jordanian and Turkish private sectors to boost partnership between them. The King also underlined the need to promote cooperation and establish joint projects that benefit the two peoples in terms of job creation and trade exchange. The King made the remarks as he attended side of a Turkey-Jordan Economic Cooperation Meeting, which was organized by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) on the sidelines of His Majesty's official visit to Turkey. "This meeting is an opportunity to deepen and develop cooperation between the two countries to promote such partnership," he added. Despite regional challenges, opportunities are available and can be seized through the promotion of partnerships among countries in the Middle East, the King said, pointing out that Jordan is a "strategic gateway for investors to access many markets". The King affirmed that the Kingdom is an investment-friendly country, noting that Jordan is committed to working with Turkey to strengthen economic cooperation, trade, and promote tourism. The Free Trade Agreement between Jordan and Turkey has provided great opportunities for enhancing trade and investment and contributed to raising the volume of trade exchange, he said. "Despite the fact that the Arab Spring had a negative economic impact on regional countries, but it provided an opportunity for these countries to work to explore ways of developing cooperation ties in the economic fields," King Abdullah noted. He called on the Turkish business community to explore opportunities so as to increase economic cooperation with Jordan in the fields of trade, information technology, communications, tourism, manufacturing, energy, water, and transportation. "Jordan's location in the heart of the Middle East, is a gateway to the Arabian Gulf, and U.S. markets," King Abdullah said, adding that Turkish investors can benefit from the free trade agreements Jordan signed with other countries to reach new markets, whose consumers are estimated at one billion. The King voiced hope for a new phase of economic cooperation and trade partnership between Jordan and Turkey "to serve the economic aspirations of both countries". TOBB President Rifat Hisarckloglu said that Jordan is one of Turkey's strategic partners in the Middle East. Jordan plays a pioneering and determinative role in the political and economic developments in the region, he said, adding that this is why peace and prosperity in Jordan means peace and prosperity in the Middle East. He noted the comprehensive reforms in Jordan, affirming that they will play a key role in attracting more investors into the Kingdom. Chairman of Jordan Businessmen Association Hamdi Tabba gave a briefing on the investment incentives which Jordan presents for investors, calling on Turkish businessmen to promote their investments in the Kingdom and launch new projects. He also noted a number of Turkish investments in the Kingdom, mainly the Disi project, which is executed by a consortium of seven Turkish companies. Tabba highlighted a number of agreements between Jordan and Turkey to enhance investments, trade and tourism.