‘Exports to Iraq at drastic low since border closures’

AMMAN — Exports to Iraq, one of Jordan’s biggest trade partners, have decreased drastically due to the border closure between the two countries, the Jordan Strategy Forum stated recently. 

The Iraqi imports in 2014 amounted to approximately $1.16 billion, coming from 11 Jordanian industrial sectors. One year later, domestic exports to Iraq decreased to $695 million, mainly due to the 2015 border closure.

In 2014, Jordanian domestic exports reached $7.25 billion, of which 16 per cent were destined to Iraq. 

Analysis conducted by Jordan Strategy Forum, from figures gathered by the Department of Statistics (DoS), indicated that the closure of land borders resulted in the closure of three major exporting sectors. 

The Animal Hides, Arts and Antiques, and Footwear and Headwear sectors stopped exporting to Iraq in 2015, leading to a drop of about $235,000 of domestic exports to Iraq. 

The vegetable sector suffered the most, with a decline of approximately $113 million, which amounts to a 73.5 per cent drop compared to 2014. 

However, positive trends were recorded by the Jordan Strategy Forum, which noted that, despite the border closure, two sectors witnessed growth in exports to Iraq. 

These Instruments and Wood Products exports grew by 37.5 per cent and 23.4 per cent respectively, with a total combined increase in exports standing at $267,000.

The remaining six sectors witnessed a drop in domestic exports to Iraq in 2015, reaching a total decrease of more than 50 per cent from approximately $464 million in 2014 to roughly $179 million a year later, the forum stated.

The decrease in domestic exports to Iraq is "without a doubt a burden to the Jordanian economy", the forum noted, in specific to the industrial sector and all supporting services. 

Although exporting to Iraq has continued, the price of shipping has become a burden on exporters, leading to a drop in revenues, profit and feasibility of exporting products to Iraq, the statement added.

The importance of the industrial sector in Jordan is central to the country’s GDP, contributed around 22 per cent of the GDP in 2016. 

The sector also plays a key role in job creation with some 221,518 workers employed in the sector in the first half of 2016, the DoS said.