Jordanian official: Regional crises stalling export activity to Palestine

President of Jordan’s Free Zone Investors Association (JFZIA) Nabil Rumman has said that export activities to the Palestinian market are currently “stalled” due to regional crises and rising export costs.

In remarks to Quds Press on Tuesday, Rumman said that the Palestinian market is one of the most important markets for Jordan’s Free Zones, specifically for transporting cars from their country of origin via Jordan to the Palestinian territories.

Rumman explained that Jordan has 35 Free Zones which export merchandise worth $5 billion a year, pointing out that the tax exemptions aim to encourage exports from Jordan to regional and international markets through the transit system.

According to Rumman, the closure of Jordan’s border with Iraq and Syria and the political situation in Saudi Arabia and Yemen has contributed to a decline of Free Zone exports by 40 percent.

JFZIA’s data indicates that Jordan exported nearly 170,000 vehicles to regional markets in 2011, increasing to 197,000 the following year. However the number fell to 155,000 in 2013.

Rumman explained that the closure of the Iraqi-Jordanian border in mid-2015 has caused a decline in exports, stating exports to Baghdad were worth nearly $52.5 million annually.

“Export to Iraq via Kuwait is expensive for exporters,” he added.

Rumman expected the decline in exports to continue during 2016 due to the “continued border closures and a lack of alternative markets that could compensate for the recession experienced by the region’s markets”.