Ammon News - Governor of Irbid, Radwan Al-Otoum briefed Azerbaijani Ambassador to Jordan, Eldar Salimov, on the investment environment in the northern governorate and promising opportunities to increase the volume of investment and trade exchange between the two countries.

In a meeting held Monday and attended by Presidents of Irbid Chamber of Industry and Commerce, Al-Otoum said the governorate enjoys an attractive investment environment in all respects, as it has qualified industrial and development zones, lauding the strong relations between the two countries in various fields, especially political, cultural and scientific ones.

He stressed the importance of strengthening and developing ties between the two countries, especially as there are many agreements concluded between them in the various economic and investment fields.

He pointed out that the challenges of Syrian refugees crisis and receiving more than 400,000 of in Irbid imposed new challenges in providing job opportunities and dealing with poverty and unemployment rates, which requires working in partnership by both countries' private sectors in order to increase the volume of mutual investment to serve the purposes of development and create new job opportunities.

Salimov, in turn, said his country's government is interested in developing prospects for economic and investment cooperation with Jordan in its various industrial, commercial, agricultural and service components, pointing out to the increase in the number of Azeri students studying in Jordan, in addition to the advanced level of distinguished cultural exchange, which must be invested to enhance and open broader horizons for economic cooperation.

For his part, President of the Chamber of Industry, Hani Abu Hassan, said that the volume of Jordanian exports to Azerbaijan is a little more than JD2 million, while its imports are less than JD500,000, which indicates a clear weakness in the trade and investment exchange between the two parties that requires more effort and participatory work from the public and private sectors in both countries to search for promising opportunities to enhance this exchange.

He called for searching in all possible fields to activate investment cooperation between the two countries, noting that the main imports of Jordan from Azerbaijan are concentrated in sugar and cocoa.

For his part, Vice President of the Chamber of Industry, Nidal Al-Hasi, said that it is possible to build on the relations between the two countries to increase the volume of mutual investment opportunities, which will be of particular interest to the industrial sector in the governorate.

While President of the Chamber of Commerce, Mohammad Ashouha, called for exchanging visits by businessmen and investors in both countries as a starting point for developing economic relations between them in a way that enhances their aspirations in this aspect and supports the depth of political, historical and cultural relations.

Ashouha welcomed hosting Azerbaijani businessmen and working to help them find promising investment opportunities in the governorate, underling the importance of participating in trade and industrial exhibitions and economic conferences held in both countries.