Jordan, ASEAN trade saw 42% growth in 2022

AMMAN — Trade exchange between Jordan and countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) grew 42 per cent in 2022 compared with 2021, the Amman Chamber of Commerce (ACC) said on Saturday. 

ACC said that the Kingdom's trade exchange with ASEAN countries increased last year to JD1.279 billion, compared with JD900 million during 2021, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

ASEAN comprises Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Brunei, Myanmar and Vietnam, covering a population of 668 million people and an area of 4,522,518 square kilometres.

ASEAN, based in Jakarta, was established in 1967 and constitutes the seventh largest economy in the world.

The Kingdom's imports from ASEAN countries amounted to some JD877 million last year, compared with JD400 million in national exports and JD2.5 million in reexports, ACC statistical figures showed.

Jordan's imports from ASEAN countries mainly include pearls, gemstones, textile materials, electrical and electronic supplies, transport equipment, food and chemical products, while the Kingdom primarily exports chemical and metal products and textile materials to ASEAN countries.

ACC Chairman Khalil Hajj Tawfiq said that Jordan has the opportunity to boost its economic relations with ASEAN countries, especially by expanding the base of exported commodities and attracting value-added investments to the national economy.

The ACC is in the process of organising a Jordanian-Asian economic forum before the end of 2023, which would feature a joint trade fair and meetings for business owners, industrialists and traders from ASEAN countries and their Jordanian counterparts, Hajj Tawfiq said.

Hajj Tawfiq added that the ACC will address the General Union of Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture for Arab Countries to invite members of Arab trade and industry chambers, especially Palestine, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Egypt, Yemen and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries, to participate in the forum's activities.