Press Release

Secretary Gutierrez to Discuss Expanding Trade and Creating Opportunity During Visit to Middle East

WASHINGTON—U.S. Commerce Secretary Carlos M. Gutierrez will travel to Jordan Feb. 10-11 to attend the U.S.-Middle East and North Africa Trade and Investment Conference at the Dead Sea. Gutierrez will meet with his economic and trade counterparts to discuss expanding trade and investment as well as visit a public-private partnership that is improving education opportunities throughout the Middle East.

The conference will build upon President Bush’s January Middle East visit where he highlighted the value of continued economic liberalization to create jobs, prosperity and hope for the people of the region.

The Department of Commerce and the Business Council for International Understanding are organizing this conference in collaboration with the U.S.-Jordan Business Alliance. U.S., Middle East and North Africa government and business leaders will attend as well as investment promotion authorities, national chambers of commerce, and other trade and investment related institutions.

“The Middle East and North Africa is a region of tremendous opportunities waiting to be seized. Expanding trade and investment will boost jobs, hope and opportunity. It’s very appropriate we’re meeting here at the Dead Sea because Jordan is a regional success story,” Gutierrez said. “I look forward to meeting my counterparts from the region to discuss how we can build commercial ties and open doors for the private sector by expanding transparency, rule of law and investment opportunities.”

During meetings with Jordanian government officials, Gutierrez will discuss expanding U.S.-Jordanian trade ties. Since the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement (FTA) entered into force in December of 2001, two-way goods trade has increased nearly $1.5 billion annually. Of particular note are Jordan’s enhanced intellectual property rights (IPR) regulations providing greater protection for U.S. companies. Gutierrez is also scheduled to meet with his counterparts in the region at the U.S.-Middle East and North Africa Trade and Investment Conference.

The Secretary will follow up on President Bush’s U.S.-Palestinian Public Private Partnership Initiative launched at the White House last December to discuss ways to improve economic opportunity in the West Bank with the Palestinian ministers and business representatives.

“Through the President’s U.S.-Palestinian Public Private Partnership Initiative, we will work closely with U.S. and local business leaders to create business opportunities,” Gutierrez said.

While in Jordan, Gutierrez will visit the School Technology Innovation Center, a public-private partnership that aims to create a centrally located facility that will utilize technology to train teachers and improve educational practices throughout the region. The Center is a long-term partnership between Microsoft, Hewlett Packard, Cisco Systems, Intel and the Jordanian Education Initiative and the Jordan Ministry of Education.

Background
The U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement (FTA), the first FTA with an Arab state, was signed October 2000 and entered into force December 2001. The agreement provides for more open markets in services such as telecommunications, construction, finance, health, and transportation, as well as strict enforcement and protection of intellectual property rights. Jordan’s annual real GDP growth was 5.3 percent in 2001 and continued to grow at an estimated 6.0 percent in 2007, growing at 44.4 percent from 2001 to 2007. Jordan also had a GDP of $14.1 billion in 2006 and a population of 5.6 million. Since the signing of the U.S.-Jordan Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 2001, two-way goods trade has increased from about $568 million (12 months of 2001) to $2.04 billion in the first eleven months of 2007. Total U.S. merchandise exports to Jordan in 2006 were $650 million.

The U.S. also currently has FTAs with Bahrain, Israel and Morocco in the Middle East region. The U.S.-FTA with Oman is expected to be implemented in the first half of 2008.