‘Investors lose $120m a month because of Iraq violence’

AMMAN — Investors at the Jordan Free Zone lose about $120 million per month as a result of deteriorating security conditions in Iraq, according to Nabil Abu Rumman, the president of the Jordan Free Zone Investors Association.

The free zone used to export some 8,000-9,000 cars to Iraq per month but since early June, the auto exports to Iraq have come to a complete halt, he told The Jordan Times in an interview this week.

The Jordan Free Zone used to export about 11,000 cars per month to countries in the region, of which more than 80 per cent went to Iraq.

“The Iraqi market is a very important and strategic for us. Unfortunately, with the ongoing violence in Iraq and the deteriorating security situation, we are incurring huge losses,” he said.

The auto exports to Iraq were worth $80 million a month, while other exports from factories based in the free zone accounted for $40 million, according to Abu Rumman.

The factories, which mainly supplied industrial material to Iraq, were specifically opened to meet the needs of the Iraqi market, said the leading investor.

“If the situation continues like this, these factories will close and hundreds, if not thousands, of employees will lose their jobs,” he added.

“We hope that security will be restored and the situation will go back to the way it was before, because the Iraqi market is a very lucrative and strategic destination for us,” he added.

Last week, the Jordan Truck Owners Association announced that transporting goods and commodities to Iraq via Jordanian trucks was completely halted due to deteriorating security conditions in Iraq.

The trucking sector lost about JD10 million over the past 30 days, the association said.

Over the past three years, the trucking sector lost about JD200 million due to violence in Iraq and Syria, the syndicate added.