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Ammon News - by Omar Obeidat

AMMAN (The Jordan Times) – Authorities and industrialists on Monday launched a campaign to promote locally-made products to boost the economy and keep Jordanians working.

According to Musa Saket, head of the “Made in Jordan” campaign, the promotion initiative aims at boosting the confidence of Jordanian consumers in locally-manufactured products by raising their awareness on their quality.

It also aims to raise awareness about the benefits of buying Jordanian products to the Kingdom’s economy, Saket said, adding that the three-phase campaign will last until July 8.

In a bid to reach large audience, advertisements in newspapers and social networking websites will be launched in addition to billboards around Amman.

Saket, board member of Amman Chamber of Industry (ACI) and Jordan Chamber of Industry (JCI), indicated that the campaign will include, what organisers termed as “suspense phase” by publishing ads and posters on billboards that say “what is the biggest tax you would pay in the future?”.

The second phase will be giving the answer as it says “the biggest tax is when you buy non-Jordanian products”. “Make the difference and buy Jordanian products”.

The final phase will be urging consumers to buy products of Jordanian industries to “protect and boost the economy and to keep Jordanians working”, Saket explained, adding that the industrial sector represents around 25 per cent of the Kingdom’s economy and it employs more than 237,000 people.

Jordanian-made products are exported to around 120 countries worldwide and the sector pumps nearly JD800 million into the state treasury, he pointed out.

The campaign is organised by ACI, Jordan Enterprises Development Corporation (JEDCO) and the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply.

Speaking at the launch ceremony was Industry, Trade and Supply Minister Hatem Halawani who said that 80 per cent of investment projects are in the industrial sector, adding that this counters the belief that Jordan’s economy depends on the services sector.

Ziad Homsi, ACI president, stressed that supporting local industries will reflect positively on the performance of the national economy as well as all other sectors.

JEDCO Chief Executive Officer Yarub Qudah said the campaign, which will cost JD300,000, aims to boost the confidence of Jordanians in the products manufactured in the country.

“It is strange to find Jordanian products competing in 120 countries around the world while it is still difficult to find them in Jordanian households and corporations,” Qudah added.

However, some industrialists were skeptic that the campaign may not achieve its goals.

Leading industrialist and businessman Michel Sayegh belittled the JD300,000 as an amount that falls short of achieving the project’s objectives, saying that government agencies should give priority to locally-made products in their procurement.

Another leading industrialist who seemed not optimistic was Khaldoun Abu Hassan who said that such campaigns had been launched in the past but failed to achieve their goals, blaming the “current bad shape” of the sector on free trade agreements that were not in the interest of the Kingdom.

“Some industries are struggling to survive and some are dying,” he noted, saying that the biggest problem facing the industrial sector is the lack of long-term and cheap financing resources.

He called for reintroducing the Industrial Development Bank, which was sold to Arab investors few years ago and turned into an Islamic bank, as a solution to revive the sector.