Alanbat - Sarah Omat
The representative of
the packaging industries, paper, cardboard, and office supplies at the Jordan
Chamber of Industry, Mohammed AlSafadi, stressed that Jordan has great
production capabilities in the stationery and paper sector, which surpasses its
high quality over its imported counterpart.
AlSafadi told the
Jordan News Agency (Petra) that the demand for locally manufactured stationery
and paper products is witnessing a significant increase in conjunction with the
imminent return of about two million students to school in the new academic
year.
He stressed that the prices of stationery and office school
supplies in the local market are very competitive, and their quality is high
compared to imported, pointing out that Jordan has large production
capabilities within the stationery and paper sector, covering annually more
than half of the local market's needs.
He explained that the demand has increased during the past
few days for school stationery supplies, including notebooks, pens, stickers,
bags, and others, pointing to the availability of sufficient quantities of
locally manufactured stationery, to meet the different needs and tastes of
consumers.
He pointed out that part of the production is exported
abroad, amounting to about 21 million dinars annually, which indicates the
efficiency and high quality of the sector's products that enable them to
compete at the local market level and in foreign markets.
He pointed out that national products face intense unfair
competition in the local market from imported products with local analogies, in
the absence of protectionist policies for national products, such as reducing
customs duties on some school stationery products such as notebooks, school
bags, and tools, which have weakened the ability of national products to
compete locally.
Safadi pointed out that there are more than 121 facilities
specializing in the manufacture of paper, cardboard, and school stationery,
including 3 factories for school notebooks and a factory of ink pens, all of
which employ more than 5,000 workers.
He pointed out that Jordan's total production of office
supplies, paper, cardboard and books annually averages 50 million dinars, which
indicates that the Kingdom has large production capabilities in the stationery
and paper sector.