The Jordan Chamber of Industry recently urged the government to include the garments and leather industries among the sectors benefitting from the recently announced package of incentives, according to chamber board member Ehab Qadri, who said the sector had achieved remarkable results over the past few years, especially in generating employment.
The sector contributes about 29 per cent of the total employment in the industrial sector, while accounting for 26 per cent of the total national exports, Qadri said.
Additionally, it contributes to about 7 per cent of the total existing production of the industrial sector, Jordanian media reports said citing a statement from the chamber.
Qadri noted that garment and leather exports accounted for more than 35 per cent of the increase in national exports during the first eight months of this year, which grew by 8 per cent to reach JD913 million, the chamber said.
Despite ‘internal and external constraints,’ its exports achieved a ‘clear growth’ over the last decade through an annual compound growth rate of 8 per cent.
In addition to this, the contribution of the garment and leather industries sector to the national gross domestic product (GDP) has doubled over the last two years to reach about 1.7 per cent, which is a “reflection of the value added from sector production, which amounts to about half a billion dinars”, Qadri said.
Qadri stressed that incentives will result in the expansion of the sector by employing Jordanians and contributing to the growth of the national economy.
The board member noted that the sector has opened 20 satellite units over the last three years to take advantage of incentives in Article 8-A of the Investment Law. These units employ 6,300 Jordanian workers, according to the statement.
The total number of employees in the sector in 2018 was around 74,000, 19,000 of which were Jordanian, Qadri said.
Source:https://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/apparel-clothing-policy-news/jordanian-govt-urged-to-cover-garment-leather-under-sops-253268-newsdetails.htm