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Ammon News - Director-General of Jordanian Businessmen Association (JBA), Tariq Hijazi, discussed with two advisors from Kazakhstan Embassy, and Minister Counsellor for Economic Affairs at Romanian embassy, respectively, Ovidiu Costea, ways to enhance joint economic, trade and investment relations.

In two separate meetings held on Sunday, Hijazi agreed with the Kazakh side to establish a Jordanian-Kazakh business council, on the sidelines of the Jordanian-Kazakh joint committee scheduled to be held during the last quarter of 2021.

Discussions with the Kazak side also went over ways to enhance investment and economic relations between the two countries, and the JBA's role in promoting the investment environment in Jordan, and attracting foreign investments, through joint business councils that gather economic activities from 30 Arab and foreign countries, according to a JBA statement.

Hijazi said Jordan has a "strategic" location that attracts investment in various "promising" fields, and political and monetary stability, which makes it a "safe and competitive" destination for establishing investment projects.

For his part, Kazakh Chancellor, Almas Bayshigyev, expressed desire of his country's private sector to increase joint investments, especially in the pharmaceutical industry fields, by opening production lines for Jordanian medicines in Kazakhstan, and contributing to delivery of Jordanian products to non-traditional markets, through the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU), of which Kazakhstan is a member state, in addition to opening direct flights and exchanging tourists.

The volume of trade exchange between Jordan and Kazakhstan amounted to about $524k in 2019, while Jordan's exports amounted to about $407k, according to gov't data.

In another meeting, Hijazi and Costea stressed the importance of identifying economic sectors of common interest, creating new investment opportunities in various economic sectors, as well as introducing business communities on both sides to the most important available investment opportunities and proposed projects.

Hijazi said JBA seeks to activate the cooperation agreement with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Romania (CCIR), which was signed in 2013, with the aim of further increasing foreign investments in the Kingdom.

In turn, the Romanian diplomat highlighted "real" opportunities to develop trade and investment cooperation in the fields of food and agricultural industries, and information technology, pointing to the increase in demand for agricultural products in Romania during the winter season, which allows for diversifying volume of trade exchange between the two countries.

Volume of trade exchange between Jordan and Romania amounted to $321.9 million, while Jordanian exports amounted to $10.6 million, gov't figures showed.