AMMAN -- Egyptians are strikingly present in an international plastic industries' exhibition that opened in Amman on Monday and runs until Wednesday
Keen to enhance trade cooperation with Jordanians, Egyptian participation is the largest in the exhibition where dozens of local and regional manufacturers are displaying their products.
According to organisers, the exhibition aims to give representatives of the industry in the region a platform to explore the possibility of establishing joint investments, in addition to discussing challenges facing plastic manufacturers.
Inaugurating the exhibition, Labour Minister Atef Odeibat described the plastic industrial sector in Jordan as a vital contributor to economic growth.
Odeibat indicated that the Kingdom's industrial sector achieved JD1.9 billion in value-added revenues in 2011 while exports exceeded JD4.7 billion accounting for 88 per cent of the country's overall exports.
Industry, he said, employs around 231,000 persons.
According to Khaldoun Nusair, chairman of Afaq Group organising the expo, investments in the plastic sector in Jordan is nearly JD1 billion mostly owned by local investors.
Hamed Mousa, president of the Egyptian Plastic Exporters and Manufacturers Association (EPEMA) said Egyptian manufacturers chose to participate in the exhibition in a bid to establish joint projects with their Jordanian peers, noting that Jordan can be a gateway to access the markets of Iraq, Syria and Lebanon.
In remarks to The Jordan Times on the sidelines of the event, Tamer Kabil, quality manager at a Egyptian company that produces all types of plastic covers, said the Cairo-based factory hopes the expo could be an opportunity to find new markets.
He added that the company is working to widen its market presence in Jordan.
On the sidelines of the exhibition there will be lectures by different experts in the industry from Jordan, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
© Jordan Times 2012
