Jordan-Azerbaijan economic forum kicks off

AMMAN — Jordan is a regional hub for investment and trade in the MENA region, and it is one of the “most flexible business and investment environments”, Investment Minister Khairy Amr said on Sunday.  

Addressing the Jordan-Azerbaijan Economic and Investment Forum, co-organised by the Jordanian Businessmen Association and the Small and Medium Business Development Agency in Azerbaijan, Amr highlighted the government's efforts to make Jordan “a true destination for foreign and Arab investments”, as a number of reforms to the business climate are in place. 

Jordan has been placed among the world's top 10 reformers in the MENA region, according to the World Bank’s Doing Business report, he said, adding that for the first time, Jordan was classified in the report among the top three improvers in easing business. 

The minister also highlighted the promising investment opportunities available in the Kingdom, mainly in the ICT, logistics, tourism, industry, agriculture, and health sectors. 

Board member of the JBA, Michel Nazzal, called for easing all obstacles hindering increasing trade volume between the two sides, noting that enhancing cooperation in the transport sector, to reduce costs, is one of the most important steps in the next phase. 

Operating a direct air link between the countries could help in enhancing partnerships in the tourism and investment industries, as well as ease business people's movement, he said. 

Chairman of the Small and Medium Business Development Agency of the Republic of Azerbaijan (SMBDA), Orkhan Mammadov, head of the Azerbaijan delegation, said that the forum is regarded as a new opportunity to further business and investment bilateral relations, underlining the SMBDA's keenness to expand its activities and improve business networking between both countries, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.  

On the sidelines of the event, the JBA and SMBDA signed a memorandum of understanding, which meant to build strategic partnerships and discuss joint investment projects and cooperation in the field of SMEs.