Ammon News -

Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Maha Ali Monday evening inaugurated the sixth Jordanian exhibition for printing and packaging at the halls of the Amman International Motor Show on Airport Road.

The exhibition aims to highlight the capabilities and capacities of the Jordanian printing sector and promote networking between the printing and packaging industry and the various economic sectors.

Some 67 entities are taking part in the 3-day exhibition to display the latest developments in the Jordanian printing and packaging industry.

Minister Ali, who deputized for Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh, stressed the government's keen interest in supporting the national industry and enhancing its competitiveness through a set of measures, including the reduction of energy prices and supporting exports and programmes run by the Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO).

In comments on the sidelines of the fair, the minister outlined the priorities of the government's economic strategy during the coming period to recover from the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic.

She said the government's economic programme 2021-2023 placed the industry among the priority sectors with the aim of increasing the volume of national exports of goods and services and their competitiveness locally and in the export markets.

Representative of the packaging, paper and cardboard sector at the Jordan Chamber of Industry, Abdul Hakim Zaza, said packaging is a major pillar of industry and the national economy at large, as it offers outstanding contributions in terms of production and operation and supporting the other sectors to produce and ensure the flow of their goods.

He said the sector's key role was evident during the pandemic as it helped enhance the Kingdom's strategic stock of basic commodities, noting that packaging facilities of the food and pharmaceutical industries and medical supplies were excluded from Covid-19 induced lockdown measures.

Zaza, who also heads the Jordan National Packaging Centre, said that the number of the sector's facilities has topped 900, spread throughout the Kingdom and providing 15,000 job opportunities, with an annual capacity value of over 1.5 billion dollars, about 9 per cent of the country's industrial volume.