JBA, French ambassador ‘look forward’ to increased cooperation

AMMAN — The Jordanian Businessmen Association (JBA) on Saturday announced that the Kingdom's business community looks forward to attracting more French investments, especially in the education, ICT and healthcare sectors.

During a meeting with French Ambassador Alexis Le Cour Grandmaison, JBA President Hamdi Tabbaa said that Jordanian-French trade has grown in recent years, referring to France as a key European trading partner, and highlighting Jordan as a gateway for French companies looking to expand in the Middle East and North Africa region.

The Kingdom's exports to France stood at some $20 million in 2022, while imports from France stood at $796 million, he said, as reported by the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Tabbaa said that the Jordanian-French investment and economic relations are expected to diversify and expand in coming years, especially as the two countries aspire to benefit from available competitive advantages.

For his part, Grandmaison stressed the JBA's key role in stimulating investments and creating job opportunities. 

The ambassador added that the Kingdom's tourism sector is an active and important part of the Jordanian economy, noting the high French demand for travelling to Jordan. 

France's investment in the Kingdom amounts to some $2.5 billion, which reflects the "significant" level of cooperation between the two countries, he said. 

In 2020 several "important" bilateral agreements were signed in various areas, Grandmaison said, adding that his country looks forward to increasing the volume of cooperation to reflect positively on trade and investment between the two countries in the near future.