Amman, Nov. 19 (Petra) – First Vice Chairperson of the Amman Chamber of Commerce, Nabil Khatib, underlined the Chamber’s commitment to strengthening economic and trade relations with Indonesia and expanding the presence of Jordan’s private sector in promising Asian markets, noting the importance of building on the political ties between the two countries and translating them into practical, sustainable partnerships.
According to a Chamber statement on Wednesday, Khatib outlined several priority areas to enhance bilateral cooperation during a virtual meeting held via Zoom with leaders of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. These included activating the Jordan–Indonesia Business Council and organizing trade missions and reciprocal visits between the two business communities.
He noted that Jordan offers attractive investment opportunities thanks to its strategic location and free trade agreements with the United States, Canada and the European Union, enabling Indonesian investors to establish production projects in the Kingdom and re-export their goods at preferential rates to global markets.
Khatib also underscored the importance of developing religious and medical tourism programs by including Jordan in Umrah and Hajj routes for Indonesian citizens and organizing familiarization trips to promote tourism. He added that charter flights could help facilitate the movement of religious and tourist groups.
He highlighted significant cooperation prospects in renewable energy, halal food industries and logistics, in addition to exploring the possibility of launching a direct flight between Amman and Jakarta in coordination with airlines from both countries.
For his part, Chairperson of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Emil Arifin, expressed appreciation for the initiative and stressed the shared interest in advancing economic relations, particularly in religious tourism, as well as developing joint investment programs in hotel projects, solar energy and halal products.
He pointed to the potential for Indonesian cinnamon and spice products to enter the Jordanian market, be repackaged in the Kingdom’s free zones and re-exported to U.S. and European markets.
Director General of the Amman Chamber of Commerce, Ghaleb Hijazi, emphasized the importance of maintaining institutional dialogue and expanding communication between the two chambers to ensure the proposed ideas are translated into practical projects that serve the commercial and economic sectors in both countries.
Both sides agreed on a set of practical steps to enhance economic cooperation, most notably accelerating work toward signing a free trade agreement or preferential trade arrangement and activating the Jordan–Indonesia Business Council as a permanent platform for dialogue and follow-up.
They also agreed to prepare for a joint business forum in Amman in the coming period, develop religious and medical tourism programs and facilitate direct linkage between companies across different sectors.
The two sides stressed the importance of encouraging Indonesian investments in Jordan’s free and development zones, as well as strengthening cooperation in halal food industries and priority economic sectors.
//Petra// NQ
