Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04AMMAN2791
2004-04-14 05:17:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Amman
Cable title:  

JORDAN'S EXPORTS TO IRAQ SURGE DESPITE ANTI-JORDAN

Tags:  ETRD IZ JO PREL 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 002791 

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/07/2014
TAGS: ETRD IZ JO PREL
SUBJECT: JORDAN'S EXPORTS TO IRAQ SURGE DESPITE ANTI-JORDAN
BIAS IN SOME QUARTERS

C O N F I D E N T I A L AMMAN 002791

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/07/2014
TAGS: ETRD IZ JO PREL
SUBJECT: JORDAN'S EXPORTS TO IRAQ SURGE DESPITE ANTI-JORDAN
BIAS IN SOME QUARTERS


1. (C) SUMMARY: Although Jordan's exports to Iraq surged
by 47% over the first two months of this year, a top
Jordanian Trade Ministry official reported that Jordan still
faces an anti-Jordan bias in some quarters in Iraq. He
recently met with a visiting Iraqi trade official who had
promised to improve communications to Jordan on upcoming
procurements in Iraq so that Jordanian companies could
participate in the future tenders. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) According to Farouk Hadidi, Secretary General of
Jordan's Ministry of Trade and Industry, Jordan's exports to
Iraq in the first two months of this year surged 47% over the
same two months of last year. These figures record the
exports of Jordanian-produced goods alone, consisting of
garments, appliances, food, construction materials, and
electrical equipment.


3. (U) In response to the Ambassador's observation that
Jordanian businessmen should be pleased with this surge in
capacity, Hadidi said the nature of the trade had changed.
Companies that were exporters to Iraq in the past, primarily
under the oil for food program (providing powdered milk,
vegetable oil, and detergents) were not now exporting to any
significant extent. These companies could no longer compete
for contracts under Iraq's food basket program. Recognizing
that Iraqi consumers cannot yet afford to buy these products
at market prices, he bemoaned the fact that Jordan cannot
afford to lose the Iraqi market for these products for the
next two years. On the bright side, there were new products
being exported to Iraq. Exports of construction materials,
for example, were booming.


4. (C) The Ambassador noted the number of negative remarks
that we hear from Iraqis--both from government officials and
the public--about Jordan and its trade relationship with the
previous regime. Hadidi admitted that there was a problem.


5. (C) Iraq's Ministry of Health, even before the regime
change, had an unwritten policy not to buy Jordanian goods.
As a result, much of Iraq's business in this area, as well as
in some other areas, was shifting to Syria. Hadidi believed
this shift in trade was a political decision--not one based
on price or quality. He noted that there was a campaign
under way in Iraq before the war to explain this shift to the
Iraqi public.


6. (C) Nevertheless, it was true that Jordan had not found
the most friendly environment in Iraq since the war's end.
The Ministry was addressing the problem. He had met recently
with an Iraqi Trade Ministry Official. (Note: It was Ahmad
Al-Mukhtar, Director General of the Ministry of Trade,
Foreign Relations Department, who represented the Iraqi
government at the "Rebuilding Iraq Conference" held in Amman
in late March. End Note.) Hadidi described the Trade
Ministry as "more reasonable" than some other Iraqi
ministries. He said Al-Mukhtar believed that Iraq needed
more open channels with all countries and was also
appreciative to Jordan for useful training which Trade
Ministry staff had received earlier in Amman.


GNEHM