The U.S. Ambassador to Jordan, Alice Wells, said that the Congressional committees highly appreciate the Jordanian economic reforms, as well as the Kingdom's efforts made to combat terrorism in the region.
Speaking to Petra on the sidelines of a meeting held by the Jordanian Exporters Association (JEA), where she was participating, Wells indicated that His Majesty King Abdullah II's visit to Washington resulted in the renewal of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for another three years, worth $1 billion annually, while the US also pledged to offer a third package of loan guarantees to Jordan.
"I had the chance to talk with the Jordanian business community about increasing the volume of trade and exports between Jordan and the US, where under the Jordan-U.S. Free Trade Agreement, the volume of trade rose to $3.2 billion in 2014, compared to $40 million in 2001 when the agreement came into full effect," Wells explained.
She also underlined the burdens being shouldered by the Kingdom, in particular the Syrian and Iraqi crises and the influx of refugees into Jordan placing additional pressures on the economy which already suffers from scarce resources, especially water and the interruption in the Egyptian gas supply.
‏JEA chairman Omar Abu Wishah said that the Jordanian business community is looking forward to achieving the goals of the Jordan-U.S agreement, which will stimulate significant business cooperation between Jordan and the U.S. He also pointed out the JEA's role in supporting Jordanian exports, especially to the U.S.