Israel puts obstacles before Jordan exports to Palestine

Head of Jordanian-Palestinian Business Forum, Nazmi Atma, said yesterday that Israel has put obstacles before Jordanian exports to Palestinian market, Quds Press reported.

“The Jordanian Government should exert efforts to increase national exports to the Palestinian market by putting pressure on the Israeli occupation in order to review the Paris Economic Protocol,” Atma said.

The Paris Economic Protocol is part of the Oslo Accords, which puts a lot of restrictions on the Palestinian economy and ties it to Israel. It should have come to an end in 1999 as it was approved for a five-year transitional stage.

Atma stressed that there should be cooperation between the private sector and the government to overcome this problem and increase the portion of Jordanian exports in the Palestinian market.

Former Head of Jordanian-Palestinian Business Forum, Talal Al-Bau, said: “Jordanian goods could replace Israeli goods in the Palestinian market because of its quality, but this will remain difficult in light of the ongoing Israeli restrictions.”

Jordanian goods, Al-Bau said, are not allowed to enter the Palestinian market due to the restrictions imposed by the Paris Protocol.

Official data showed that Jordanian exports to Palestinian market reached 120 million dinars ($169 million) during the first half of the year compared to 94 million dinars ($132 million) during the same period last year.

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