UAE - Top leaders of the UAE and Jordan discussed ways of enhancing trade and investment relations to stimulate joint economic growth and create more opportunities for cooperation between their business communities and private sectors, at a meeting in Amman, Jordan, Emirates News Agency, WAM, said in a report.

UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade, Dr Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi was received by Bisher Khasawneh, Prime Minister of Jordan, in the presence of Yousef Mahmoud Al Shamali, Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply of Jordan.

During the meeting, Khasawneh highlighted the close ties between the two countries and expressed his support for the UAE as the host of the 13th World Trade Organisation Ministerial Conference, which will take place in Abu Dhabi in February 2024, with the attendance of ministers and officials from 164 members of the organisation. He also confirmed Jordan’s high-level participation in the conference.

Al Zeyoudi said the UAE and Jordan have a joint aspiration to develop future-oriented economies driven by innovation, knowledge, and the unhindered exchange of trade and investment. They are keen to enhance their bilateral ties to higher degrees of cooperation and mutual prosperity.

"There is a mutual will to build on the commercial and investment momentum between the two countries, to improve their relations and create more opportunities for their business communities,” Al Zeyoudi said.

The non-oil trade between the two countries increased by over 47% in 2022, reaching $4.5 billion, more than double the total in 2020 when their trade grew by 106%, and also 57.8% higher than in 2019.

This growth continued in the first half of 2023, with trade flows totalling $2 billion, making Jordan the UAE’s third leading Arab trade partner in the GCC, followed by Iraq and Egypt. Jordan accounted for 8% of the UAE’s non-oil foreign trade with Arab nations.

The UAE is also Jordan’s fifth leading global trading partner and second leading Arab partner after Saudi Arabia, with a share of 6.2% of Jordan’s foreign trade with the world.

The UAE is Jordan’s top foreign investor, with its investments in the kingdom amounting to around $4 billion by 2020, accounting for 14% of Jordan’s total foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows. In 2021, Jordan invested over $1.6 billion in the UAE, making it one of the country’s 24 key investing countries and the sixth among Arab nations after Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Qatar.

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