Jordan's King Abdallah II supports the Israel-Jordan economic road map and the establishment of a joint taskforce to promote regional projects based on it, said Israel Britain Business Council (IBBC) presidents committee chairman Gideon Siterman, after IBBC representatives met the king.
Siterman said King Abdallah welcomed the IBBC delegation, telling it that he was committed to the peace process and that Jordan wanted to cooperate with the Israeli and British business communities.
The IBBC delegation proposed to King Abdallah that a joint taskforce be set up, comprising the Israeli and Jordanian governments and the private sector. The taskforce would promote the economic road map and present it to UK Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown at the upcoming G8 summit.
Siterman said King Abdallah supported the establishment of the joint taskforce, which would formulate a number of regional projects on the basis of the economic road map. The king added that he favored an Israel-Jordan free trade agreement, in order to develop trade zones in Aqaba and in northern Jordan.
Israeli exports to Jordan rose by 26% in 2003 to $86.8 million. Growth continued in the first quarter of 2004 to $27.8 million - 79% more than in the corresponding quarter of last year.
On the other hand, Israeli imports from Jordan shrank by 7% in 2003 to $44.4 million, but the trend reversed in the first quarter of 2004, when imports rose by 29% to $12 million.
Israel's main exports to Jordan in 2003 were textiles, paper, vehicles, rubber and plastics. Israel's main imports from Jordan were miscellaneous goods, textiles, and agricultural products.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on May 13, 2004