Jordan, Syria private sector representatives call on gov'ts to address trade challenges

AMMAN — A private sector delegation on Monday held two meetings with the Damascus chambers of industry and commerce over means to enhance economic relations between Jordan and Syria and overcome trade and transit challenges.

The delegates, representing the Association of Owners of Clearance and Transport Companies (AOCTC) and the Jordan Truck Owners Association (JTOA), highlighted the importance of the two countries' governments reconsidering all economic issues, especially the fees imposed on transit trade through Jordan and Syria, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

In 2018, the Syrian government imposed a fee of 10 per cent on transit goods coming from Jordan, which prompted the Kingdom to adopt the principle of reciprocity and impose the same fee on transit goods coming from Syria. 

Deifallah Abu Aqouleh, AOCTC president, said that scrapping the 10-per cent fees is an important part of stimulating the service sectors, mainly clearance and the movement of trucks from Jordan through Syria to Lebanon, Turkey and eastern European countries and from Syria through Jordan to Gulf countries, Egypt and Iraq.  

Abu Aqouleh expressed hope for communication between the two governments to address challenges standing in the way of increasing trade exchange volume and the transit of goods through the two countries.

President of the JTOA Mohammad Dawoud said that the number of trucks that pass through border crossings between Jordan and Syria has declined from 900 to 90 vehicles per day.

Chairman of the Damascus Chamber of Industry Samer Dibis highlighted the importance of finding quick solutions to transport issues and identifying a list of commodities that each country is allowed to import from the other. 

Dibis also urged the delegates to provide the chamber with a list of commodities that Jordan seeks to export to the Syrian market so as to contact the Syrian government to lift their ban on imports.

Jordan and its northern neighbour reopened the Jaber-Nasib border crossing on October 15, 2018, after passenger and cargo traffic was halted for more than three years as a result of the escalating violence in the Syrian town of Nasib, just across the border station, some 80km north of Amman.