Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
02AMMAN7328
2002-12-18 12:03:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

JORDAN: CAPITALIZING ON THE JOINT COMMITTEE

Tags:  ETRD EINV SENV BEXP JO 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 007328 

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARN, EB/CBA, AND OES/ENV
COMMERCE FOR 4520/ITA/MAC/ONE/PTHANOS
COMMERCE ALSO FOR 4520/ITA/MAC/ONE/COBERG
STATE PASS USTR FOR NED SAUMS
STATE PASS EPA FOR LEE PASAREW
STATE PASS USAID FOR TOM OLIVER
STATE PASS EXIM FOR JOE GRANDMAISON
CUSTOMS FOR CRAIG WALKER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD EINV SENV BEXP JO
SUBJECT: JORDAN: CAPITALIZING ON THE JOINT COMMITTEE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 007328

SIPDIS

STATE FOR NEA/ARN, EB/CBA, AND OES/ENV
COMMERCE FOR 4520/ITA/MAC/ONE/PTHANOS
COMMERCE ALSO FOR 4520/ITA/MAC/ONE/COBERG
STATE PASS USTR FOR NED SAUMS
STATE PASS EPA FOR LEE PASAREW
STATE PASS USAID FOR TOM OLIVER
STATE PASS EXIM FOR JOE GRANDMAISON
CUSTOMS FOR CRAIG WALKER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ETRD EINV SENV BEXP JO
SUBJECT: JORDAN: CAPITALIZING ON THE JOINT COMMITTEE


1. (u) Jordan's government and business community are
hailing the first annual U.S.-Jordan Joint Economic Committee
meeting held in Washington December 11, and the
private-sector trade events that surrounded it, as
unqualified successes. Jordanian participants were impressed
by and appreciative of the high-level USG interest the
meetings received, notably participation by Commerce
Secretary Evans, USTR Zoellick, AUSTR Novelli, A/S Wayne, and

SIPDIS
A/S Burns. U.S. participants in some of the private sector
meetings similarly were impressed by the energy and
professionalism of members of the Jordanian private sector
delegation. Jordanian government and private sector leaders
were especially grateful to Amy Schedlbauer, Carl Oberg, Ned
Saums, and Roger Freeman for their key contributions to the
success of the JC events.


2. (u) The meetings have generated a number of follow-up
opportunities, both officially and with private sector
groups. USTR is preparing an official schedule of
commitments agreed to by each side at the December 11
meeting. In addition to these official commitments, the JC
events surrounding the official meeting created numerous
follow-up projects for the private sector. They include:

-- TIJARA counterpart: We continue to encourage the
formation of a TIJARA counterpart in the U.S. to include
representatives of interested U.S. business associations,
U.S. government agencies, and the Jordanian Embassy.
Ideally, a U.S. association such as the National U.S.-Arab
Chambers of Commerce (NUSACC) would work with a lead USG
agency such as DoC to invite interested associations, with
invitations based initially on attendees of the DoC-sponsored
event December 12. The focus of such a group would be
primarily to raise awareness among the memberships of the
associations about opportunities offered under the FTA, and
to encourage continued cooperation between U.S. associations
and their Jordanian counterparts. Ultimately, meetings
between the two groups could become a fixture of future JC

meetings.

-- AJEX support: DoC DAS Molly Williamson agreed to lead a
group of U.S. business associations to Amman to participate
in the AJEX program (the American products show) March 26-28.
Invitees will include at minimum participants in the
December 12 DoC-hosted event. The purpose of the mission, in
addition to supporting JABA's AJEX program, will be to create
a core of U.S. businessmen in key associations who can advise
members of their associations about business realities in
Jordan (including standard of living, investment climate, and
security issues) that are often at odds with - and much
better than - perceptions from media reports. Having a group
of such businessmen who have experienced Jordan first-hand,
it is thought, will help tear down one key barrier to new
trade and investment under the FTA, i.e., misperceptions
about Jordan's business and security environment.

-- Trade finance: Financing is one of the main obstacles
cited by Jordanians and Americans to expanding bilateral
trade and investment. A seminar on trade and investment
financing under the FTA would have a wide and enthusiastic
audience in Amman. It would raise awareness about the
services offered by EXIM, OPIC and TDA, as well as by private
banks. As Econoff discussed with EXIM's Robert Bosco on the
margins of the DoC event, the best time frame for such an
event would be during the AJEX show, March 26-28. JABA and
local banks would be willing to help support such an event.
We would welcome further discussions with Washington to
pursue this idea.

-- Pharmaceuticals Follow-up: The Jordanian Pharmaceutical
Association (JAPM),in cooperation with the U.S. generic
pharmaceutical manufacturers' association (GPhA),the
Embassy, and DoC, will encourage a group of small and
medium-sized U.S. generic pharmaceuticals manufacturers to
visit Jordan on a fact-finding tour in the coming months.
Currently, we are looking at late May-early June, to coincide
with a World Trade Week program sponsored by World Trade
Center Amman and the Jordan Exporters' Association. The goal
of the fact-finding tour is to give the companies an overview
of manufacturing facilities in Jordan and to encourage
partnerships between U.S. and Jordanian manufacturers. This
activity will build on the ongoing cooperation between JAPM,
PhRMA, and the GOJ.

-- QIZ Follow-up: Following on the success of the QIZ
roundtable held at DoS on December 13, the Embassy has been
in contact with representatives of USAITA, the U.S. trade
association representing garment retailers, to explore
possible follow-up activities. These include forming a
Jordanian delegation to hold a similar program in New York or
Los Angeles in the spring; inviting USAITA to hold Board
meetings or regional meetings in Amman; inviting USAITA to
form a delegation of retailers to visit Jordan for a
fact-finding tour; and offers from the Embassy and qualified
Jordanians to speak to USAITA members via digital video
conference. We will continue this dialogue over the coming
months.

-- Environmental Forum Proposals: When the Jordanian
private sector delegation met the USG official delegation to
the JC on December 11, Imad Badran of the Zarqa Chamber of
Industry requested USG assistance in developing a plan to
build a waste treatment facility in Zarqa to serve a variety
of local industries (Zarqa is the home to most of Jordan's
heavy industry, including the oil refinery and steel mill).
State/OES expressed interest in following up the project
under the umbrella of the Joint Environmental Forum, in
keeping with Jordanian delegate Alia Boran's expressed desire
to find specific programs for the forum to engage on in the
short term.


3. (u) Keeping up the momentum generated by the JC events
will be a priority for the Embassy in the coming months.
Successful pursuit of the activities outlined above will go a
long way toward raising awareness of the FTA's potential
among key U.S. and Jordanian business sectors. We look
forward to working with interested Washington agencies to
make these programs as successful as the JC events that
spawned them.
GNEHM