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Ammon News - Jordan's industrial sector has begun, since the middle of the current year, to recover and overcome the fallout of the coronavirus pandemic, head of the Jordan and Amman Chambers of Industry, Fathi Al-Jaghbir said on Tuesday.

Speaking to the Jordan News Agency (Petra), Al-Jaghbir said that the industrial exports picked up by 23.1 percent during the first half of 2021 compared to the same period last year, noting that such growth is unprecedented and has not been recorded for many past years.

The Kingdom's industrial exports amounted to JD2.549 billion in the first six months of this year, compared to JD2.071 billion and JD2.138 billion during the same period of 2020 and 2019 respectively, he stated.

Al-Jaghbir also expected that the sector would record a growth of more than 3 percent during the first half of 2021, compared to the same period last year, based on the sector's performance in many economic indicators in various domains.

"The Industrial Production Index spiked by 18.6% in the January-July period of 2021 compared to the same period in 2020, driven by the improvement in the performance of the industrial sectors," he indicated.

The official also pointed out that the industrial sector’s trading volume at the Amman Stock Exchange during the last eight months of this year tripled in value compared to the same period last year, reaching about JD288 million against JD94 million in 2020 and JD207 million in 2019.

The industrial sector, Al-Jaghbir said, is considered one of the largest economic sectors contributing to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 24.7 percent directly and 40 percent indirectly, in addition to having large export capabilities amounting to 93% of the total national exports, as its products reach to more than 142 markets around the world.

Talking about investments, he underlined that this sector attracts direct investment, noting that the industry accounted for 80% of the foreign investments flowing into Jordan during the last decade, while the volume of investment in the sector reached about JD15 billion.

"Partnership between the government and the industrial sector has improved during the recent period," Al- Jaghbir stressed, noting that government has put this sector among its economic priorities for the next two years.

(Petra)