Khaberni - The Chambers of Commerce of Amman and Kuala Lumpur signed a "Letter of Intent" on the sidelines of a virtual seminar, to enhance economic cooperation between Jordan and Malaysia.
According to a statement from the Amman Chamber of Commerce today, Thursday, the signatories for the Amman Chamber of Commerce were its First Vice President, Nabil Al-Khatib, and the President of the Kuala Lumpur Chamber of Commerce, Ahmed Hussein Taj El Din.
The seminar, organized by the Amman Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with the Malaysian Embassy in the Kingdom, saw participation from representatives of both the public and private sectors in the fields of pharmaceuticals and healthcare, tourism, food, energy, and the Jordanian Ministry of Investment.
Al-Khatib emphasized during the seminar, which was attended by the Malaysian Ambassador to the Kingdom, Mohammad Nasri bin Abdul Rahman, the need to form a Jordanian-Malaysian business council aimed at invigorating trade relations and facilitating the flow of investments by overcoming challenges faced by businessmen and encouraging joint ventures.
Al-Khatib highlighted that Jordan possesses an attractive and safe investment environment supported by modern legislation and competitive advantages provided by the economic modernization vision, inviting Malaysian businessmen to explore opportunities in the Kingdom and affirming the readiness of the Amman Chamber of Commerce to provide necessary support to enhance partnerships with their Jordanian counterparts.
Al-Khatib stressed the Jordanian commercial sector's interest in increasing the import of Malaysian products, in exchange for expanding the Kingdom's exports of pharmaceuticals, fertilizers, and agricultural and food products to the Malaysian market, noting the importance of sectoral meetings in the fields of chemical industries, jewelry, cosmetics, and electronics.
In his part, Ambassador Abdul Rahman confirmed that signing the letter of intent between the two chambers reflects the commitment of both countries to enhance economic cooperation and explore new opportunities in trade and investment, noting that trade exchange between his country and the Kingdom grew by 29.4% over the past five years.
On his part, Taj el-Din emphasized the importance of cooperation with the Jordanian side to open new horizons for trade exchange and the exchange of experiences between the business communities in both countries.
Amman Chamber of Commerce’s Second Vice President, Bahjat Hamdan, highlighted the diverse tourism attractions in Jordan, particularly religious, educational, and medical ones, calling for partnership programs with Malaysian institutions in these areas and activating the "Umrah Plus" program to attract Malaysian pilgrims.
Hamdan emphasized the importance of enhancing cooperation between tourism companies in both countries through joint tourism programs and regular virtual meetings, stressing the need to launch tourist promotion campaigns that leverage religious, cultural, and natural attributes, in addition to taking advantage of international tourism exhibitions to expand cooperation.
In turn, the Head of Sectoral Promotion at the Ministry of Investment, Engineer Tamara Qa'abar, provided a detailed presentation on the priority sectors in the national investment strategy, highlighting the competitive advantages provided by the ministry, reflecting an attractive investment environment in Jordan.
She indicated that cooperation with Malaysia represents a strategic opportunity to enhance economic relations and expand joint investments for sustainable development in both countries.
In her turn, General Secretary of the Jordanian Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers, Dr. Hanan Sbeoul, pointed on the extensive opportunities for cooperation with Malaysia in advanced fields, calling for bilateral meetings to enhance partnership and use Jordan as a base for the region and Malaysia as a gateway to Southeast Asia.
She pointed to the fact that the pharmaceutical sector in Jordan is considered one of the high-value sectors prioritized in the economic modernization vision, noting that Jordan has 30 manufacturing sites and exports 75% of its production to about 80 countries, with a value that reached 862 million dollars in 2024,
Ahmed Al-Khalili, a representative of the private food sector, representative of Abu Ouda Brothers Company, emphasized the importance of the trade partnership between Jordan and Malaysia, noting that palm oil and foodstuff constituted about 27% of trade volume in 2024, reflecting the vital role of the food sector.
He pointed out that the food exchange exceeded 50 million dollars, supported by the presence of more than 3,000 food companies in Jordan, calling for enhancing cooperation in the field of halal foods and taking advantage of Jordan's location as a gateway to regional markets through partnerships and joint projects.
Representative of the private renewable energy sector, Engineer Hanna Zghoul, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Qawar Energy, stated that Jordan is a regional leader in the transition to renewable energy, with its contribution exceeding 27% of total electricity generation in 2024, with plans to increase it to 31% by 2030.
He pointed out that the private sector implemented more than 90% of renewable energy projects with investments exceeding 4.5 billion dollars, calling for enhancing investments in energy storage, upgrading infrastructure, expanding regional interconnection, and accelerating green hydrogen and electric transport projects to achieve developmental and climate goals.
Mohammad Al-Qasim, Chairman of the Tourism and Hospitality Sector Skills Council, also reviewed possible areas of cooperation between Jordan and Malaysia in training and qualifying tourism personnel, emphasizing the importance of exchanging expertise and building partnerships in the field of tourism education and hospitality, which contributes to improving the efficiency of employees and developing services according to international standards
Zaidi Idris, Deputy Director of the Malaysian Investment Development Authority, outlined the promising sectors in Malaysia and the procedures that facilitate attracting investments, while the Malaysian Trade Commissioner Yazrin Mahlan emphasized the importance of enhancing bilateral trade relations and opening new markets for the private sector.
It should be noted that the trade volume between the two countries in the first half of 2025 reached about 77 million dinars.
