
Amman, Jan. 8 (Petra) – The National Team for Implementing the Industrial Policy 2024-2028, in collaboration with the Sectoral Skills Council, has identified 28 priority professions within the food industry sector. Efforts are currently underway to develop professional standards for six of these professions.
The National Team includes members from the Jordan Chamber of Industry, and chambers from Amman, Zarqa, Irbid, along with relevant government entities, including the Ministry of Transport, Energy, Investment, Environment, Industry and Trade, the Jordan Standards and Metrology Organization (JSMO), and the Jordan Food and Drug Administration (JFDA).
According to the 2024 policy report, coordination has taken place with a donor organization to provide technical assistance in developing training curricula for knitting industries, in partnership with the Technical and Vocational Skills Development Commission (TVSDC).
The team has also strengthened vertical and horizontal integration by preparing a feasibility study for establishing a specialized cluster for textiles and accessories in Jordan and has begun planning for attracting investments into the sector.
Additionally, the team launched a project to develop sectoral strategies for three high-value sectors food, engineering, and chemicals and prepared key themes for these strategies.
To enhance the participation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in government procurement, the Cabinet approved the foundations and policy paper concerning the participation of micro, small, and medium enterprises, as well as women, youth, and persons with disabilities in 2024 government procurement.
To establish an environmental label for manufacturing companies, a roadmap was adopted, with the environmental label to be granted by the Jordan Standards and Metrology Organization based on ISO 14024. The roadmap includes joining a global network to internationally recognize the Jordanian environmental label.
As part of the national program to reduce energy costs for the industrial sector, 10 selected factories were assessed to determine necessary actions for increasing the share of clean energy.
To encourage green activities in industrial facilities, intensive dialogue sessions were held with relevant stakeholders in the food and textile sectors regarding waste management. A committee was formed to develop an investment map for waste management in the textile sector, aimed at transforming environmental harm into investment opportunities. A draft of the steps for creating the investment map is currently being processed by the Ministry of Investment.
Additionally, a specialized program to provide incentives for entrepreneurship in the manufacturing sector led to the launch of an Entrepreneur of the Year award, with the winning company announced during the Small and Medium Enterprises Forum organized by the Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO).
The National Team works through four sub-teams: the Innovation and Skills Development Team, which focuses on identifying sectoral skills needs and enhancing technology use in manufacturing; the Competitiveness Team, which studies issues that enhance sector competitiveness, including production costs, product diversification, and resource efficiency; the Support and Financing Programs Team, which addresses topics related to enhancing industrial sector competitiveness; and the Sectoral Teams, which develop strategies to address sector challenges and create interventions to improve competitiveness.
Today, the National Team, chaired by Dana Zoubi, the Secretary-General of the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Supply, held its fourth meeting to review achievements in industrial policy and the accomplishments of its sub-teams.
The meeting was attended by the Secretaries-General of the Ministries of Energy, Investment, and Transport, JEDCO Executive Director, and representatives of industrial sectors and chambers of industry in Amman, Zarqa, and Irbid.
The Industrial Policy document for 2024-2028 aims to achieve an annual growth rate of 2.03% in value-added and 3.4% in job opportunities for Jordanians within the sector. It also sets a target for 66 exported products to exceed $5 million during the same period.
The policy document, approved by the government in February of last year, provides a vision for the future of the industrial sector over the next five years. It serves as the foundation for an integrated strategy for industry, shifting from focusing on each sector separately to a more systematic approach that integrates five high-value industries, focusing on their shared areas.
The document aims to achieve its goals through three main axes: product diversification (through export baskets, increasing the national product’s share in the local market, and optimal utilization of raw materials), value-added manufacturing (by enhancing national value chains, establishing links between local industries, focusing on high-value industries, and improving the quality of existing industries), and competitive and productive environments (by developing skills to meet current and future industrial demands, reducing production costs, accelerating the shift to a circular economy, and enhancing innovation in technology use).
The document outlines five high-value industries as identified by the Economic Modernization Vision: food, pharmaceuticals, textiles, chemicals, and engineering. This reflects the government’s commitment to the industrial sector in achieving structural transformation toward a “diverse and resilient economy” with a focus on creating a flexible, sustainable sector driven by innovation.
//Petra// AF
08/01/2025 23:28:58