His Majesty King Abdullah on Monday visited the Chinese city of Shanghai to have a first-hand look at its industrial projects and development zones and to explore the possibility of benefiting from China’s expertise to expand development zones in the Kingdom.
Visiting the city on the second day of a working visit to China, King Abdullah visited one of China’s development estates, Shanghai Jinqiao Export Processing Zone, which houses export-oriented industrial and hi-tech enterprises.
His Majesty was briefed on the zone, its major enterprises and their future outlooks and goals and expressed the Kingdom’s interest in benefiting from the Chinese experience in this domain.
Highlighting the key features of Jordan’s investment environment, the King spoke about the Kingdom’s various advantages, underscoring its stability and unique location, connecting Asia with Europe and Africa, besides its educated and qualified human resources.
His Majesty said Jordan’s position in the heart of the Arab world and its status as a “gateway” for Gulf Cooperation Council countries makes the Kingdom a regional and international trade hub, noting that Jordan has launched several development and free trade zones in the past 10 years, offering various incentives for foreign investors.
During a meeting attended by the accompanying Jordanian delegation, the King asserted the country’s commitment to further improving the business environment for foreign investors.
His Majesty referred to the free trade agreements Jordan has signed with world countries and regions, under which made-in-Jordan products are secured access to different world markets. The King urged China to benefit from these FTAs so as to reach out to new markets and increase global penetration.
“We believe that China’s assistance to the Kingdom and establishing development partnerships will help our economic and development zones unlock all their potentials to provide sustainable economic benefits for both our peoples,” His Majesty added.
At present, China has several investment projects in the Kingdom, in the fields of engineering, electricity, transport and garment manufacturing.
While visiting the Research and Development Centre of Huawei, which is located in the Jinqiao modern technology park in the Pudong District, the King was briefed on various efforts and technology solutions that Huawei provides in different parts of the world, including Jordan.
During a meeting with executive managers, His Majesty highlighted the country’s telecommunications and information technology sector and its positive contribution to the gross domestic product.
The King expressed confidence that Huawei will expand its business in the Kingdom and help bring about more development to this sector.
Huawei, a global information and communications technology solutions provider, has set up 16 R&D centres in countries that include Germany, Sweden, the US, France, Italy, Russia, India and China.
It also has laboratories, which function as the innovation, research and platform technology development arm of the company, according to its website.
On the sidelines of the King’s visit to China, the government, represented by Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Hatem Halawani, signed a memorandum of understanding with Chinese Huawei Technologies to strengthen cooperation and expand the use of information and communications technologies in Jordan in education and training.
Under the memorandum, the Chinese company will provide Jordan with video-conferencing solutions for educational purposes.