Officials in talks with Mexican peers over FTA

AMMAN — A Jordanian-Mexican committee held a series of meetings on February 9 and 10 as the first round of negotiations to sign a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries.

In a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times on Monday, Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Hatem Halawani was quoted as saying that the meetings were part of a follow-up on the outcomes of His Majesty King Abdullah’s visit to Mexico in February 2014 during which a framework agreement was signed to establish an FTA between the two countries.

Halawani said that the agreement will have positive impact on enhancing economic cooperation and increase the trade exchange between Jordan and Mexico. The minister added that FTAs Jordan has signed with key partners have resulted in boosting national exports to reach JD4.6 billion during last year.

The deals have also enabled Jordanian products to reach more than 1.3 billion consumers around the world without any restrictions.

Once signing the agreement with Mexico, Jordan will be the first Arab country linked to the free trade region, NAFTA, combining the US, Canada and Mexico, the statement said.  

The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), came into effect on January 1, 1994, creating the largest free trade region in the world, generating economic growth and helping to raise the standard of living for the people of all three member countries.

According to the Department of Statistics, the trade exchange between Jordan and Mexico has reached around JD33 million during the first 10 months of 2014 compared with JD31 million registered during the same period in 2013.