Jordan signs bilateral trade agreements with Palestinian Authority

Trade between Palestinian Authority and Arab countries is around $100m mark Jordan and the Palestinian Authority (PA) have signed an executive trade programme agreed at a meeting of their joint committees held in the West Bank city of Ramallah last November. Jordanian Minister of Industry and Trade and Communications and Information Technology, Hatem Halwani, signed the document with Palestinian National Economy Minister Jawad Naji. Afterwards, he said that efforts should be made by public and private sectors in both countries to put signed deals and programmes into force.
Halwani called for developing joint ventures and removing barriers to expanding trade, adding that a series of meetings and workshops will be held in both countries to familiarise the Jordanian and Palestinian private sectors with facilities and incentives provided by bilateral agreements.
Noting Jordan’s political and economic support to the PA, Naji said the trade volume between the two sides had not been up to the level of their close political ties.
“The volume of trade between Palestine and Israel currently runs at $4bn, while trade between the PA and all the Arab countries does not exceed $100m,” he said, calling for removing administrative and technical hurdles, but stressing that the Israeli occupation is the main culprit.
The Palestinian minister said a permanent centre for Jordanian industries will open in Palestine and a similar Palestinian facility will also open in the Kingdom.

Source: Petra News