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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Tareq Hammouri has called for forging robust balance between the reopening of economic activity and the ongoing fight against COVID-19 pandemic coronavirus, especially after the World Health Organization warned of a potential second wave of infections.

Hammouri made the remarks during the second extraordinary meeting of trade and investment ministers of the Group of Twenty countries, which was held through a video conference, according to a statement issued by the Trade Ministry on Sunday.

The statement said that the meeting came within the framework of Saudi Arabia's presidency of G20 meetings with the aim of discussing mechanisms to respond to the coronavirus pandemic, and alleviate its consequences on international trade and investment to lay the foundations for a global economic recovery.

The Minister stressed the need to ensure the flow of trade and increase industrial production by enhancing innovation and entrepreneurship to boost competitiveness and integration in regional and global value chains.

Jordan is one of a few countries that managed to run an early and successful response to the pandemic, he said, adding that this has led to the reopening of economic sectors at a full productive capacity as of last week with the exception of a limited number of economic activities.

Hammouri pointed to the importance of discussing means to ensure that procedures followed at border crossings run smoothly, including the testing of truck drivers, so that the freight movement continues to supply markets with goods, in addition to protecting public health and safety.

At the end of the meeting, the ministers approved a set of measures to support international trade and investment, focusing on organizing trade exchange, forgoing restrictions on exports of agricultural products, facilitating international trade, exchanging experiences and using best practices of the measures recently taken by various countries.

The meeting tackled the importance of supporting and reforming the multilateral trading system, building flexibility in global supply chains and exchanging information, which aims at expanding production and trade of basic goods and services, including digital trade.

The minister also pointed out the need to enhance communication channels between the transport ministers of the G20 countries to prioritize the transportation of basic commodities in coordination with private sector institutions.