Jordan moves to revive industrial sector dampened in turmoil

Jordan will hold a week-long event starting August 20 in support of the industrial sector, which suffered from major losses due to the closure of borders with Iraq and Syria.

The event will feature several industrial products in a variety of areas and display unique handcrafted products at the "Made in Jordan" festival between August 20-28, Fathi Al Jaghbir, member of the Board of Directors of the Amman Chamber of Industry, said at a press conference Sunday.

Over 400 Jordanian companies will participate in the event, targetting the support of the industrial sector which contributes 25 percent to the gross domestic product per annum.

"The event comes at a crucial time when industries in Jordan face serious challenges due to regional conditions. The event represents a platform to showcase successful Jordanian industries whose products penetrated over 120 countries," Al Jaghbir, said.

The event aims to encourage Jordanians to adopt local production, which suffered tremendously amidst regional turmoil.

Jordan closed its borders with Syria earlier this year amidst ongoing unrest in neighboring countries, whilst Iraq announced the closure of its borders with Jordan in July until further notice.

The industrial sector in Jordan suffered substantial losses after the Islamic State (IS) took control of large Iraqi territories, halting Jordan's industrial exports to Iraq, a major end user of Jordanian products, according to industrialists at the press conference