Category: Affairs

Zarqa, The total value of certificates of origin issued by Zarqa Chamber of Industry (ZCI) last year amounted to $1.33 billion.

In statements on Wednesday, ZCI head, Fares Hammouda, said exports of the chamber’s members in Zarqa and Mafraq governorates have shifted from concentration on specific sectors to a “more diversified” stage in the exported products and target markets.

He pointed out that North American markets accounted for 48.2% of total exports in 2022, with a value of $641.6 million, of which $610.5 million were exports to United States and $26.4 million to Canada.

Arab markets accounted for 37.2% of total exports last year, with a value of $494 million, of which $146.4 million went to Saudi Arabia, $115 million to Iraq, and $60 million to Palestine.

Last year, the chamber’s exports to non-Arab Asian countries amounted to $76 million, of which $7 million were exports to India, $6.9 million to Singapore, and $5.4 million to Turkey.

Meanwhile, value of the chamber’s exports to European Union countries last year amounted to $51.9 million, of which $25.9 million went to the Netherlands, $12 million to the United Kingdom, and $3.7 to Greece, while value of exports to non-Arab African countries stood at $4.4 million.

Hammouda said exports of leather and textile industries sector maintained the first place last year worth $718.52 million, followed by catering, foodstuff, agricultural and livestock industries at $179.71 million, construction industries at $145.59 million, engineering, electrical and information technology industries at $89.68 million, and plastic and rubber industries at $60.88 million.

The remaining exports concentrated in chemical industries and cosmetics sector at a value of $58.81 million, therapeutic industries and medical supplies at $45 million, packaging, paper and stationery supplies at $31.11 million and wood and furniture industries at $1.47 million.

Source: Jordan News Agency

London, The pound sterling Wednesday rose against the dollar, according to British financial centres.

The pound rose 0.7 per cent at a value of $1.2056. The euro also rose 0.5 per cent against the dollar at $1.0603.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, Ministry of Labor excluded Jordan’s industrial and agricultural sectors and domestic workers from the decision to stop recruitment of expatriate workers.

The ministry continues to stop expat worker recruitment, with exception granted to some sectors, in line with the local market’s manpower needs, its Secretary-General, Farouk Hadidi, said in a press statement on Wednesday.

Hadidi noted the decision to stop expat worker recruitment came to regulate and assess local labor market, address its imbalances due to the presence of unemployed Jordanian workers, whether in professional and vocational areas or university specialties.

He also stressed the need to maintain national workforce training programs in coordination with the private sector, to provide job opportunities in the Jordanian market, and compete with Arab and foreign labor.

On the ministry’s key role in this regard, he said its steps aim to regulate the labor market, set the necessary instructions and take appropriate decisions to find job opportunities to employ Jordanians, in cooperation with the private sector and other concerned stakeholders.

Employment of Jordanians is a priority by activating procedures that curb expat workers recruitment, he said.

Locally, he noted presence of expat workers in a large number caused damage to the organized labor market, decreased job vacancies for Jordanians, and increased unemployment problem, especially in light of the region’s current conditions.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The total value of the certificates of origin issued by the Irbid Chamber of Industry (ICI) in 2022 went up by 15.7 percent to reach $1.4 billion, compared to the $1.2 billion reported for 2021.

According to the ICI’s annual report released on Tuesday, the increase was driven mostly by the al-Hassan Industrial Estate’s exports, which were estimated at $1.3 billion, while the remaining exports came from the Cyber City and other industrial zones in the northern governorate.

On the sector level, the textile and leather sector accounted for the lion’s share with $1.3 billion worth of exports, followed by the medical industries and supplies sector with $34 million and the foodstuffs products with $33.9 million, in addition to other sectors.

Head of the ICI Hani Abu Hassan cited recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic as the reason behind the increase in exports, indicating that the United States market was the biggest importer, accounting for a value of $1 billion, followed by the European Union countries with exports worth $104 million, and the Arab countries with exports worth $65 million, while the remaining shipments went to the Canadian and Southeast Asian countries’ markets among others.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Cabinet on Tuesday decided to freeze the kerosene tax during the winter season to alleviate the burden on citizens, especially those with low income.

Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh underlined the government’s commitment to implementing the royal directive and reducing the price of kerosene if global prices drop.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Ministry of Water and Irrigation said Tuesday that the volume of rainfall so far this season accounted for 35.4 percent of the annual average.

About 1.4 million cubic meters of water entered the dams from rain and runoff from valleys during the past 24 hours, which was concentrated in the Tannur Dam in Tafileh that received about 772,000 cubic meters, raising its storage to 48 million cubic meters, about 17 percent of its total capacity of 280,760 million cubic meters, according to a ministry statement.

The highest precipitation of 4.4 mm was recorded in Qasr Tuba in the Zarqa Governorate over the past 24 hours, it said.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Jordanians working in Qatar sent home a staggering $440 million (JD312 million) in 2022, indicating an increase of 10 percent compared with 2021, according to Qatari money exchangers.

In interviews with the Jordan News Agency (Petra) on Tuesday, they said that remittances by Jordanian expatriates in 2022 may be the highest in several years.

According to data recently released by the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), Jordanian expatriates’ remittances in the first ten months of 2022 increased by 0.6%, surpassing $2.829 billion (JD2 billion), while in October alone, they increased by 2.8%, reaching $290.4 million (JD205.9 million) compared to the same month in 2021.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Zarqa, The value of re-exports of factories and companies in Zarqa governorate totaled JD183 million in 2022, according to Zarqa Chamber of Commerce chairman Hussein Shreim.

Shreim said in a statement Monday that most of the exports were vehicles, foodstuffs, pharmaceuticals, furniture, construction material, electronics, garment, and jewelry.

He added that the chamber issued 7,481 certificates of origin last year.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, The prices of 145 food items have dropped and remained stable during the month of December, compared to November, according to Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply statistics.

They showed a decrease in the prices of 14 commodities, mainly fresh chicken by 3 percent and vegetables, including cucumbers and eggplant, by 15-20 percent.

The prices of 131 commodities, including oils, meat, legumes, processed products, sugar, milk and various brands of rice, generally stabilized, the figures revealed, while the prices of 9 items went up, including two brands of rice by 2-5 percent, one brand of sugar 3-7 percent and table eggs 8-9 percent.

The Ministry said it regularly monitors food prices locally and tracks fluctuations in the global market, as well as verify commercial stores’ adherence to the industry and trade law and regulatory legislation.

It said it will continue to study and monitor local commodities’ prices to ensure their stability and continue market inspections to take action against pricing violators, urging the public to report their complaints to the ministry.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, The Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship on Monday announced the results of a study on the supply-demand gap for digital skills in the labor market.

The study, conducted by the ministry’s Digital Skills Association (DigiSkills) as part of the Youth, Technology and Jobs (YTJ) project, showed a thorough assessment of digital skills required to keep pace with the dramatically increasing demand in the information technology and communication sector (ICT) locally, regionally and globally, according to a ministry post published on social media.

The results showed a 12-percent growth in the ICT sector workforce in 2021, which comprised 25 percent females and 75 percent males.

The ministry called for enhancing female participation in the workforce through flexible working hours, remote working, training programs and educational campaigns.

The study can be viewed in full via the link:

https://lnk.jo/Jordan-Digital-Skills-Supply-and-Demand-Gap-Analysis.

Source: Jordan News Agency