Jordan Exporters Association (JEA) head Ahmad Khudari has expressed keenness to increase exports to Canada based on the free trade agreement signed between the two countries, according to local reports.
The Jordan-Canada FTA had come into force in 2012.
According to a JEA statement on Saturday, Khudari said the FTA provides “various and promising” opportunities for the national industry to enter the Canadian market and meet its needs for “high-quality” goods.
Speaking at the closing ceremony of a JEA training workshop, organized in cooperation with the Trade Facilitation Office Canada (TFOC), he noted the JEA seeks to help Jordanian companies and businesses increase industrial exports to the Canadian market.
Khudari stressed the JEA’s keenness to develop the businesses’ capabilities and engage them in international trade and find export opportunities in a number of global markets.
Khudari lauded the TFOC’s role in implementing programs in cooperation with the JEA to help Jordanian companies enter new markets, especially Canada.
In 2018, the JEA sent a delegation to take part in an international exhibition in Canada, in which a number of Jordanian businesses participated, with the aim of promoting their products, he said.
This step, he said, showed opportunities, especially for business-owners outside the capital, Amman who lack technical and financial support to help access foreign markets.
In 2009, Jordan and Canada signed four bilateral cooperation agreements, with the aim of establishing “distinguished” economic relations in various fields, including an FTA and three pacts on investment, labor and the environment.
The reports said that Jordan’s exports to Canada increased during the first nine months of 2021 by 19 percent to reach JD38million ($53.60 million), compared to JD32 million ($45.13million) for the same period 2020.