Ending Friday curfew fruitful to revive clothing, footwear sector — representative

AMMAN — The cancellation of the Friday curfew has reflected positively on the clothing and footwear sector, representative of the clothing, garment and jewellery sector at the Jordan Chamber of Commerce Asaad Qawasmi said on Saturday. 

It was noticed that the cancellation of Friday’s lockdowns has refreshed the market, especially since clothing and footwear shops depend greatly on the shopping of families during the day off, Qawasmi said in a statement.

“Many guest workers in the Kingdom had only Fridays to purchase their needs of clothes,” Qawasmi said, noting that the Jordan Chamber of Commerce has put guidelines and instructions, in cooperation with the ministries of industry, trade and supply, agriculture, and health.

The guidelines are related to the health measures of wearing face masks, keeping a safe distance and complying with hygiene practices among other measures to curb the spread of the virus, Qawasmi said, adding that “great adherence has been noticed in this regard by all”.

“Merchants have suffered during closures, as they had to pay their employees’ salaries and meet various financial commitments, but now the move would help them a lot”, Qawasmi told The Jordan Times in past remarks.

“Friday sales constitute 30 per cent of a week’s sales for the clothes and footwear sector,” he said at the time, noting that the clothing sector employs about 56,000 workers at 11,000 facilities across the Kingdom.

At the end of last year, the government reduced curfew hours, as shops began to close at 11pm instead of 9pm and public movement allowed until 12 midnight, and last week, it announced the end of the Friday lockdowns, which continued for the most part of 2020.