‘Growth in export numbers recorded as national products found new markets in 2019’

AMMAN — Compared with the previous year, national exports increased by 6.8 per cent in 2019, reaching about JD5 billion for the first time since 2014, which registered a growth of 7.4 per cent in national exports at a value of JD5.2 billion, Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Tareq Hammouri said on Monday.

As for developments in exports and imports, the trade balance deficit went down by 12.2 per cent compared to the year before, standing at JD7.827 billion in 2019, Hammouri added in a ministry statement cited by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

When excluding the exports of phosphate, potash and fruits and vegetables, the growth rate in national exports went up to 11 per cent in 2019 compared with 2018, the minister added.

He attributed the increase in national exports last year to joint efforts made by the public and private sectors over the past few years to enhance the access of national products to new markets in light of regional unrest and the loss of the Kingdom’s traditional markets.

Hammouri noted that a total of 15 companies exported to EU countries in 2019 under simplified rules of origin between Jordan and the EU, with the exports of 10 companies valued at about 53 million euros.

The main sectors that contributed to the growth of national exports included livestock, which increased by 60.3 per cent, iron (42.9 per cent) and copper (42.3 per cent), according to the statement.

On the other hand, the value of imports declined by 4.8 per cent in 2019 when compared with 2018. This is mainly due to a drop in the import of jewellery by 44 per cent, tobacco products by 32 per cent and oil and its derivatives by 23 per cent.