Senior US Commerce official advances trade, investment ties during Jordan visit

AMMAN — The US Department of Commerce’s Deputy Assistant Secretary  for Middle East and Africa, Camille Richardson visited Jordan from March 9-11 to advance US-Jordan trade and investment ties. 

Her trip to Jordan follows her participation in the Trade Winds Business Forum in Dubai, the largest and first Commerce-led trade mission since the onset of the pandemic, according to a US embassy statement.

Over the course of her visit to Jordan, Richardson met with several Jordanian government officials, including representatives from the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, Ministry of Investment, and the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission. 

In each of her meetings, she underscored the importance of cooperation and the bilateral commercial relations, and highlighted opportunities to advance infrastructure development priorities related to climate, digital connectivity, health systems, and gender equality, by leveraging public and private sector resources, as part of the Build Back Better World (B3W) initiative established by US President Joe Biden and G7 leaders in June 2021. 

She also met with representatives of the private sector to discuss the commercial landscape and opportunities for US firms in Jordan and the region.

As part of the Women Empowered Leave Legacies Through Trade and Investment Initiative (WELLTI) that she helped establish, Richardson hosted a roundtable discussion with Jordanian businesswomen to help build connections between American and Jordanian women business leaders. 

This was Richardson’s second WELLTI event in Jordan, the first of which took place virtually in 2021. 

On the event and broader initiative, Richardson said: “WELLTI was created to build ties between businesswomen in the United States and the Middle East and Africa, to foster an exchange of ideas and resources necessary to achieve international business success.”

Additionally, Richardson delivered remarks during the second InvesTech Workshop & Pitchfest organised by the US Commercial Service at the US embassy in Amman. 

Given the event’s focus on empowering Jordanian start-ups, Richardson also informed participants about the upcoming 2022 SelectUSA Investment Summit, which will include programing for international tech start-ups, as well as a mentorship networking programme for female founders seeking to “go global” and expand business operations to the United States.  

Interested Jordanian companies are encouraged to contact the embassy for additional details, the statement said.