Press Release

Secretary Gutierrez to Address Trade and Investment Conference in Jordan

WASHINGTON—U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos M. Gutierrez will deliver keynote remarks at a Middle East business conference to stress the importance of continued economic reform and expanding our economic ties and mutual commercial relationship. The U.S.-Middle East and North Africa Trade and Investment Conference will be held at the Dead Sea in Jordan, Feb. 10-11. Gutierrez will also meet with his economic and trade counterparts from the region to discuss trade and investment.

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

“Promoting open markets and furthering economic reforms will boost jobs and opportunity throughout the region and will support efforts to expand transparency, rule of law and other political reforms,” Gutierrez said.

“This conference is an important opportunity to exchange ideas on ways to further our bilateral and commercial ties as well as to build trust and understanding,” Gutierrez said. “Our private sector representatives will be able to explore business opportunities in the area, and enhance two-way trade and investment trends in the region.”

The conference will promote U.S. trade and investment ties with the Middle East and North Africa region. The conference will also encourage continued regional economic reform and trade liberalization efforts that will lead to more intra-regional trade.

“The U.S.-Jordan FTA has been a great success. Therefore, it is important to hold this conference in Jordan, which has been a trade leader in the Middle East,” Gutierrez said. “Trade is a win-win for the United States and Jordan.”

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 are invited as well as investment promotion authorities, national chambers of commerce, and other trade and investment related institutions.

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.

*This statistic has been updated.