ABJ Chairman, Basem Khalil Al-Salem, and the Jordan Chamber of Industry, Fathi Al-Jaghbir, signed a memorandum of understanding and cooperation with the aim of enhancing cooperation that will reflect positively on the industrial and banking sectors in the Kingdom. Minister of Industry and Trade, Eng. Maha Ali, and Chairman of Jordan Chamber of Commerce, Senate. Nael Al-Kabareti attended the event.

Maha Ali, Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply said that the ministry is continuing its efforts with the private sector, especially traders and industrialists, to sustain the supply of basic commodities, including food, inputs and requirements for industrial production from different origins to the Kingdom to maintain the strategic stock and reduce the repercussions of globally rising freight rates on the local market.

She indicated that the Council of Ministers has taken several measures to limit prices rise of basic commodities in the local markets including the adoption of ceilings for the costs of sea freight for the purposes of calculating taxes and customs duties until the end of 2021 to ensure that this measure is reflected on the final price for the consumer.

She said that this meeting came to discuss possible mechanisms to provide credit facilities to traders and industrialists at lower costs, including awareness of the possibility of reducing interest rates. She also praised the positive and permanent cooperation between the ministry and ABJ to serve the national economy.

She said that the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply is in constant coordination with the industrial and commercial sectors and relevant private sector activities in the context of efforts to enhance food security and maintain stability of basic prices, including food locally, taking into account the presence of stocks of various imported commodities in periods previous to the rising cost of sea freight.

Chairman of ABJ, Basem Khalil Al-Salem, said, “This memorandum came after previous discussions and meetings between the Association and the Jordan Chamber of Industry, as it is the main incubator and the most comprehensive representative of the industrial sector in the Kingdom. The Chamber will discuss various aspects of cooperation between the banking sector and the industrial sector, as the current situation confirms the importance of establishing solid understandings and strategic partnerships between the influential sectors in Jordan, such as the banking sector and the industrial sector.

Al-Salem stressed that this trend would have important repercussions in supporting and forming an important platform for dialogue and understanding between the banking sector and the industrial sector on various problems, challenges and issues at the level or sub-levels.

For his part, Chairman of the Jordan Chamber of Industry, Fathi Al-Jaghbir, said that the relationship between the industrial and the banking sector with all its components is one of complementarity, noting that the vast majority of small and medium industrial establishments urgently need to obtain the necessary financing for the sustainability, growth and development of their businesses.

Jaghbir pointed out that establishments face a number of obstacles in obtaining financing, as the percentage of credit facilities directed to the industrial sector did not exceed 12% of the total credit facilities granted by banks in 2020.

The signing of the memorandum of understanding follows a tripartite meeting that included representatives of three economic sectors, namely the banking sector, the industry sector, and the trade sector, in the presence of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Engineer Maha Ali, which aimed to discuss ways of cooperation between these sectors and how to address challenges facing trade and industry sectors and the role of the banking sector in supporting and stimulating such sectors.

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