Agreements signed to establish 4 food factories

AMMAN — Agriculture Minister Khalid Hneifat on Sunday signed agreements with a number of investors to establish four food factories with an investment volume of up to JD2 million.

The agreements include establishing a potato factory for partial production, a factory for the processing and packaging of vegetables and two mushroom production factories, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. The factories are expected to provide more than 100 job opportunities. 

The Jordanian Palestinian Agricultural Marketing Company (JPACO) will follow up on all contracts and prepare marketing plans to find external marketing opportunities, Hneifat said.  

The project, intended to stimulate agro-industries in industrial cities, is an extension of the National Sustainable Agriculture Plan, which was implemented upon Royal directives to enhance food security and develop food industries in partnership with the private sectors, Hneifat added. 

The minister stressed that the project aims to link agricultural production to industry in order to increase the added value of agricultural products, control excess production, increase exports, improve farmers' income and provide new job opportunities. 

Jordan Industrial Estates Corporation (JIEC) Director-General Omar Juwaid said that the project aims to attract agricultural investment to industrial cities and governorates, noting that the agreements signed on Sunday will be launched in industrial cities in the Irbid, Karak, Tafileh and Amman governorates.