(MENAFN- Jordan Times) Jordanian manufacturers want public and private buyers to give priority to locally made products.
Some leading industrialists insisted on Thursday that promoting Jordanian products in the local market is the way to help the sector recover and expand.
By giving priority to products made by Jordanian manufacturers, government procurement committees and large supermarkets in the Kingdom, can enable the sector to grow and create over 50,000 jobs, indicated Samir Maqdah, general manager of the Amman Chamber of Industry (ACI).
"This year is very tough for industrialists because of competition from regional and international manufacturers and because of the fading purchasing power in the local market due to rising living costs," Maqdah explained.
"Why do other countries encourage their people and companies to purchase their local products while in Jordan foreign products are always preferred," said Fathi Jagbeir, who is the president of the Small and Medium Enterprises Association (Jordan SMEs) and a board member of ACI.
The industrialists were talking during a press conference to brief journalists on the third annual forum and exhibition for national industries, which will start on Saturday.
According to Jaghbeir, although Jordanian products are exported to around 120 countries worldwide, local manufacturers still find difficulties in marketing their merchandise in the domestic market.
He complained that government agencies usually require in their tenders that products or services be of foreign origin.
"The forum and exhibition aims at showing public and private buyers the advanced levels and high quality of Jordanian products," he said, adding the event seeks to enable industrialists promote their products to owners of large supermarkets, officials and merchants.
The industrial sector employs around 50 per cent of the labour force in the private sector, or around 200,000 people, Jaghbeir indicated, noting that the forum and exhibition will be inaugurated by Prime Minister Fayez Tarawneh.
According to Nidal Samain, from Jordan SMEs, a total of 60 companies are scheduled to participate to showcase their products.
More than 120 factories applied to take part in the expo, but due to the limited size of the showroom, the number was limited to only 60, he said, adding that the one-day event will be attended by a large number of traders and decision makers as well as government procurement managers.
Answering a question about the biggest challenge facing Jordan's industrial sector, Jaghbeir mentioned unfair competition from regional countries as the main obstacle for promoting locally-made products in the Kingdom because factories abroad receive government subsidised fuel for production.
Noting that the Kingdom's exports have declined in recent months, Maqdah attributed the gloomy outlook to regional turmoil which have prevented Jordanian businesses from expanding their schemes.
According to a report issued by the Department of Statistics Wednesday, national exports during the first four months of this year dropped by 0.7 per cent to JD1.546 billion.
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