Successful trade and investment talks between the Syrian and Jordanian chambers of commerce

 On June 30th, the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce and the Jordan Chamber of Commerce conducted successful trade talks that focused on ways to intensify efforts to overcome the obstacles facing the trade movement between the two countries.

During the meeting, the two sides stressed the need for boosting  economic relations and coordination and overcoming obstacles, especially those related to transit transport.

In turn, the Chairman  of the Federation of Syrian Chambers of Commerce, Mohammad al-Lahham, considered that transit is the economic artery for exchanging and transporting goods across the two countries’ territories.

Vice Chairman of the Federation of Syrian Chambers, Amer Hamwi, stressed that in  Syria there is a fertile environment for investment, pointing out that it welcomes Jordanian participation in reconstruction projects.

For his part, the Chairman of the Jordan Chamber of Commerce, NaelKabariti, stressed that the return of the Jordanian-Syrian trade to its previous era is a common interest for the two countries’ economies.

Kabariti explained that Jordan is an important central point for Syria in terms of transit through the transfer of goods and commodities to the Arab Gulf countries, just as Syria is important for Jordan’s trade to reach European markets, Turkey and Lebanon.

Kabariti stressed that the rise in maritime freight rates globally, which requires the two countries  work together to overcome the effects of this on the prices of imported goods and merchandise.

Kabariti called for the promotion of imports through the port of Aqaba for the Syrian side and from Tartous port with regard to Jordan.

For his part, the First Vice Chairman of the Jordan Chamber of Commerce, Jamal Al-Rifai, spoke about the need to transfer commercial relations to broader horizons during the coming period.

The Director General of the Jordanian-Syrian Joint Free Zone, Irfan Al-Khasawneh, confirmed that the company has started, since the beginning of this year, to rebuild the zone, where nearly 90 percent of it has been completed.

During the meeting, joint commercial activities from both sides raised many issues, foremost of which is removing obstacles that prevent enhancing cooperation in the field of maritime transport, reducing fees imposed on trucks, enhancing cooperation in the field of communications and information technology, establishing a council for businesswomen, abolishing restrictions on importing goods in both directions, and focusing on importing clothes and shoes from the Syrian market and participation in exhibitions held in the two countries.

O. al-Mohammad