US embassy cable - 02AMMAN5515

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 005515 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS USTR FOR NED SAUMS AND CATHY NOVELLI 
STATE PASS USAID FOR TOM OLIVER 
USDOC FOR MOLLY WILLIAMSON 
TREASURY FOR OASIA - LARRY MCDONALD 
OPIC FOR JIM HANSLEY 
CAIRO FOR AGCOUNS 
CUSTOMS FOR FARAH NAIM AND LEON HAYWARD 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, EINV, EAGR, JO, OPIC 
SUBJECT: JORDAN'S TRADE MINISTRY GEARING UP FOR JOINT 
COMMISSION 
 
REF: AMMAN 471 
 
SUMMARY 
 
1.  (u)  The Ambassador delivered the USG's official 
invitation to convene the 2002 U.S.-Jordan Joint Commission 
to Jordanian Trade Minister Salah al Bashir on September 22. 
Accepting the invitation, Bashir provided the GOJ's 
preferences for dates, events, and agenda items for the Joint 
Commission.  Embassy will be working in the coming weeks with 
the ministry and with private sector delegation members to 
ensure a substantive Washington program.  We will also be 
seeking assistance from interested Washington agencies to set 
up meetings and events on both the public- and private-sector 
sides. 
 
DELEGATION COMPOSITION 
 
2.  (u)  While the GOJ has not yet decided on the exact 
composition of the incoming delegation, Bashir said he 
expected the total delegation size to be around 15, including 
about 5 GOJ officials from the Trade Ministry and Customs and 
another 10 private sector and quasi-private sector 
individuals, the latter likely representing some of the more 
prominent of Jordan's' 23-odd trade and business 
associations.  Bashir promised to have a delegation list 
finalized by the beginning of next week (September 30).  Once 
we have it, we will forward it to Washington and begin 
setting up side meetings for private-sector delegates. 
 
DATES AND EVENTS 
 
3.  (u)  Bashir proposed holding the official JC meeting on 
October 24th.  He said the ministry would like to tie the end 
of the official meeting in, via digital video conference 
(DVC), to an FTA promotion seminar that will be held 
concurrently in Amman and in Jordanian embassies in 5-6 other 
regional capitals, with the idea that the JC principals could 
briefly address the seminar and take 5-6 questions from the 
field concerning the FTA.  Bashir expressed hope that USTR 
Zoellick would participate in the DVC, adding he hoped to get 
King Abdullah to make brief remarks as well. 
 
4.  (u)  In addition to these senior-level meetings, the GOJ 
would like to hold technical-level discussions on the 23rd, 
both to follow up on customs issues raised during the August 
Rules of Origin DVC, and to begin discussions on other 
customs-related issues they plan to raise during the JC (see 
proposed agenda items, below). 
 
5.  (u)  The GOJ has asked for our assistance in scheduling 
an FTA promotional event on the 23rd to provide an 
opportunity for private-sector delegates to meet U.S. 
counterparts.  Since Jordanian private-sector delegates are 
to be trade/business association representatives culled from 
the TIJARA committee (reftel), one proposal for an 
appropriate FTA promotional event was to have a large group 
meeting including the Jordanian delegates and their closest 
U.S. counterparts, followed by break-out meetings between 
individual associations, to include their public relations 
staffs. 
 
 
6.  (u)  Bashir expressed a strong interest (since echoed by 
the local amcham) in maximizing press coverage for the event 
in order to raise awareness of opportunities under the FTA to 
a broader U.S. business audience.  Optimally, Bashir said he 
would like to have a "hook" for such a promotion, and 
mentioned specifically the possibility of announcing the 
entry-into-force of the long-awaited Bilateral Investment 
Treaty.  A promotional event with the BIT announcement as a 
centerpiece could be a strong draw for new investment 
interest, in his view. 
 
AGENDA ITEMS 
 
7.  (u)  The GOJ intends to provide us with a detailed list 
of proposed agenda items by early next week (September 30). 
Broadly, they would like to accomplish the following: 
 
-- review the environmental management capacity assessment, 
as outlined in the FTA (Note: two USAID-funded contractors 
are completing the study now, and expect it to be ready for 
presentation in time for the JC meeting.  End note); 
 
-- discuss avenues of cooperation/technical assistance to 
improve Jordan's ability to attract FTA-related investment, 
to include improving Jordanian private sector access to U.S. 
marketing and distribution channels; 
 
-- clarify procedures for obtaining E-1 and E-2 visas, and 
clarify what sort of traveler would normally seek out such a 
visa; 
 
-- propose allowing Jordanian businesses to apply QIZ Rules 
of Origin to FTA products (Note:  in the case of textiles, 
this would allow fabric cut in Israel and sewn in Jordan to 
qualify as Jordanian for RO purposes, in the GOJ's view.  End 
note.); 
 
-- consider allowing Jordan to operate an "OPA" operation, 
similar to Hong Kong, whereby cut fabric would be allowed 
into Jordan for sewing and would count toward the 35% country 
of origin requirement (Note:  this idea has not been entirely 
fleshed out by the GOJ side; we expect further details when 
we receive the detailed agenda proposals.  End note.); 
 
-- discuss allowing cumulation from neighboring territories 
for country of origin purposes. 
 
8.  (u)  Note that this list is not exhaustive.  Once a final 
agenda proposal is delivered, we will forward it to concerned 
Washington agencies. 
 
OTHER MEETINGS SOUGHT 
 
9.  (u)  In addition to the official meeting with USTR on the 
24th, Bashir will seek meetings with the following while he 
is in Washington: 
 
-- senior-level Treasury officials, to request that Jordan 
and the U.S. begin negotiations on a bilateral double 
taxation convention; 
 
-- senior-level USDA officials, to discuss possibilities for 
future food aid to Jordan, including PL 480 Title I and "Food 
for Progress"; 
 
-- Officials at OPIC to discuss uses for the OPIC facility in 
Jordan, following up on meetings with OPIC VP Cynthia 
Hoestler and Jim Hansley in Amman. 
GNEHM