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Ammon News - Washington, D.C. - The Embassy of Jordan in Washington, D.C., in collaboration with the Consumer Technology Association (CTA), hosted an event titled "Why Jordan is your next partner in the Pre- & Post- Silicon Semiconductor Supply Chain." The event, which took place on Tuesday, May 7th simultaneous to His Majesty King Abdullah II’s visit to Washington, D.C., emphasized Jordan's abundant talent pool and its potential to address the semiconductor industry's growing need for skilled workers. The event also discussed Jordan's cost competitiveness, strategic political and economic relationships, supportive ecosystem, strong IP protection, focus on sustainability, and commitment at the policy-making level to meet the industry's needs.

The keynote address was delivered by H.E. Mothanna Gharaibeh, CEO of Fifth Advisory Services and Jordan’s former Minister of Digital Economy & Entrepreneurship. The keynote was followed by a panel discussion featuring Dr. Jon Alterman, Director of the Middle East Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), and Ms. Jennifer Meng, Director of Global Policy at the Semiconductor Industry Association. The discussion was moderated by Mr. Edward Brzytwa, Vice President of International Trade at CTA.

During the event, Jordan's competitive advantages in the semiconductor industry were highlighted, with a particular focus on its highly skilled workforce and its Free Trade Agreement with the United States. H.E. Mothanna Gharaibeh emphasized, "Jordan has the highest number of engineers per capita globally and a proven track record of growing technical teams for multiple American companies such as Cisco, Microsoft, Amazon, and Juniper. Digitally enabled jobs are growing by 19% year-over-year in the last 4 years, demonstrating the country's commitment to developing its talent pool."

During the panel discussion, Ms. Jennifer Meng emphasized that the U.S. semiconductor industry is working with allies and countries to make the supply chain more resilient. She highlighted that with the CHIPS Act, there is global competition to attract the semiconductor industry, and there is a short window of opportunity. Ms. Meng shared three priorities for the industry as it considers locations: (1) Incentive packages such as R&D grants and loans, (2) Workforce policy and workforce development, and (3) Forward-looking trade policy that allows for minimal import/export procedures. H.E. Mothanna commented that Jordan is already in line with all three of these priorities.

Dr. Alterman stressed the advantages of human capital and noted that Jordan is a country that many nations want to see succeed, with a government committed to solving problems rather than creating them. He also pointed out that Jordan is a destination where businesses can engage in dollar-dominated trade with competitive salaries, and it offers many other advantages, such as clean and renewable energy.

The event drew around 40 guests, including representatives from the semiconductor industry, congressional staffers, think tank experts, tech journalists, and other stakeholders.

"The semiconductor industry is facing a critical shortage of skilled workers, and Jordan is uniquely positioned to help bridge this gap," said an Embassy of Jordan representative. "We are excited to work with industry partners to develop and grow Jordan's talent pool, creating new opportunities for both the country and the global semiconductor industry."