Jordan
Pakistan and Jordan set to initiate the process of negotiations for concluding Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and Protection and Promotion of Investment between the two countries along with cooperation in agriculture, science and technology and other areas during 8th Session of Pak-Jordan Joint Ministerial Commission.
Relations among countries are normally defined by bilateral or multilateral agreements, especially when it comes to trade under reciprocal facilitation. The purpose, of course, is to maximise benefits. In order for such agreements to be sound and sustainable, they must be balanced and serve the best interests of both sides, otherwise the party at disadvantage will find a way to obstruct the implementation of the agreement and finally yield to pressure and revoke the agreement altogether.
Jordan’s trade minister yesterday acknowledged that his country had failed to enforce its own labor laws in some instances. Mr. Zu’bi was in Washington to meet with the Bush administration, lawmakers and business groups after a May report by the National Labor Committee said the US-Jordan Free Trade Agreement encouraged sweatshop conditions in Jordanian garment factories.
Tens of thousands of foreign guest workers are stripped of their passports, trapped in involuntary servitude, sewing clothing for Wal-Mart, Gloria Vanderbilt, Target, Kohl’s, Thalia Sodi for Kmart, Victoria’s Secret, L.L.Bean and others.
President of Jordan Exporters Association Ayman Hatahet said a US company will implement, in cooperation with the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Jordanian Embassy in Washington, a project to promote the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) signed between Jordan and the US.
Propelled by a free trade agreement with the United States, apparel manufacturing is booming in Jordan, its exports to America soaring twentyfold in the last five years. But some foreign workers in Jordanian factories that produce garments for Target, Wal-Mart and other American retailers are complaining of dismal conditions - of 20-hour days, of not being paid for months and of being hit by supervisors and jailed when they complain.
The Kingdom and the European Union (EU) launched an agricultural trade agreement on Tuesday to increase the Kingdom’s agricultural exports to European markets.
The Jordanian minister of Industry and Trade said that his country and members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) have made great advancement in their negotiations for the signing of a Free Trade Agreement (FTA).
Since the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Bush administration has placed democratization and reform in the Middle East at the top of its agenda. While press reports have focused on political developments, another key component to the American strategy entails encouraging economic growth, modernization, and liberalization throughout the region.
Arabs attending a conference in Bahrain blasted yesterday Washington’s "Big Brother" attitude in bilateral Free Trade Agreements, saying they are political tools to serve US interests rather than enhance economic prosperity in the region.
His Majesty King Abdullah will meet today with Russian President Vladimir Putin for talks on ways to develop bilateral ties, particularly in the economic fields.
Agreement for the Establishment of a Free Trade Zone between the Arabic Mediterranean Nations
Palestinian officials said on Thursday that they seek to partly replace Israeli goods with made-in-Jordan products after a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between the two Arab sides goes into effect.
The Syrian government approved a free trade agreement signed with Jordan. Officials said the deal is aimed at developing economic cooperation and boost bilateral trade between the two countries.
The likelihood of forging the US-Philippines free trade agreement (FTA) largely hinges on the Philippine agricultural sector in folding into the proposal.
Looking at the experience of Jordan’s pharmaceutical sector, this paper shows that the expected benefits from bilateral agreements between developed and developing countries have been largely overestimated while the costs underestimated.
Jordan is keen to sign a free trade agreement with Baghdad and has already presented Iraq with the necessary draft.
With free trade agreements, come political leverage. Realising this, the United States is moving fast to sign bilateral FTAs with Gulf countries - in the hope that Washington would be able to fill a vacuum because of the slowness of these Arab states in starting any regional trading mechanisms of their own.
His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday said a free trade agreement (FTA) between Jordan and Canada would contribute to enhancing the Kingdom’s economy.
A senior US trade official and the Jordanian Minister of Industry and Trade Ahmad Hindawi held talks Tuesday on "reinforcing and further-developing economic and trade relations between both countries."
