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- US-Jordan Free Trade Agreement (FTA) :
Signed in October 2000, it is America’s fourth free trade agreement and the first with an Arab nation. It will eliminate virtually all tariff and non-tariff barriers to bilateral trade in goods and services within ten years.
Tariff reductions will take place in four stages, however special agreements exist for reductions on specific “sensitive” goods such as cars, tobacco, alcohol, poultry and certain agricultural produce.
The FTA also includes provisions addressing trade and the environment, trade and labor relations, intellectual property rights protection, and e-commerce among others.
Further details can be found at:
http://www.usembassy-amman.org/fta/ftatxt.html
- Euro-Jordanian Association Agreement :
Signed in November 1997, the Euro-Jordanian AA aims to create a free trade area between the European Union and Jordan by 2010. The agreement focuses on promoting economic and cultural relations for the development of trade, investment and technological cooperation.
Under the agreement all industrial products and natural resources originating in Jordan would enter the EU duty free immediately, while duties on EU industrial products would be reduced annually over the implementation period.
· Free Zones :
Jordan has a number of free zone areas designed to attract foreign investment and develop export industries, international trade exchange and facilitate transit trade. There are two types of free zones
§ Public - established and administered by the Free Zones Corporation (a government corporation)
§ Private – established and administered by the private sector
Both Jordanian and foreign investors are permitted to invest in trade, services and industrial projects in the free zones, and incentives are granted to the investors in these areas.
Further details can be found at www.free-zones.gov.jo
· Aqaba Special Economic Zone (ASEZ) :
In May 2001 the Government of Jordan converted Aqaba port and the surrounding area into a Special Economic Zone with streamlined bureaucracy, lower taxes and facilitated customs handling.
The private sector has been given a free hand to develop the transportation, communication services, tourism and high value-added activities within the duty-free and tax-advantaged Zone.
Aqaba is strategically located between four countries and three continents, and is situated at the Gulf of Aqaba leading to the Red Sea. The ASEZ is about 375 square kilometers, and stretches to the land borders of Saudi Arabia and Israel, and to the territorial waters of Egypt.
Due to its location as an East-West/North-South trade route, it has always played a crucial role in international transit, and continues to offer advanced multi-modal logistics and transport services.
In terms of investment opportunities, especially within the services sector, the ASEZ has a comparative advantage in a number of key areas such as location-based services (cargo handling, business incubators, equipment storage, freight forwarding and integrated logistics, and warehousing, cold storage and transshipment); professional services; infrastructure; and privatization opportunities.
Further details can be found at: