US embassy cable - 03AMMAN765

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 000765 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP/BCLTV - LAWLESS 
STATE PASS USTR FOR NED SAUMS 
USDOC FOR 4520/ITA/MAC/MWILLIAMSON 
USDOC FOR 4520/ITA/MAC/ONE/COBERG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ETRD, EINV, BEXP, JO 
SUBJECT: JORDAN'S AMCHAM PLANS 2003 PROGRAM 
 
 
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SUMMARY 
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1.  (u)  With the regional outlook uncertain for the coming 
months, the Board of Directors of JABA, Jordan's AmCham, have 
restructured their event planning for 2003.  They are 
shifting more of their events to late in the year and 
planning more trips to the U.S. in an effort to keep momentum 
going from the December Joint Economic Committee (JEC), while 
recognizing the difficulty of enticing investors, speakers, 
or business partners to Amman in the spring/summer timeframe. 
 As JABA's plans develop, we will be in contact with 
interested Washington agencies for follow-up and support. 
END SUMMARY. 
 
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AJEX RESCHEDULED 
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2.  (u)  In a meeting with the Ambassador on January 26, 
JABA's Board of Directors outlined an ambitious yet practical 
plan for 2003 to keep interest levels in the FTA and QIZ up 
in the U.S., and to keep JABA members active in promoting the 
FTA and building on the relationships they established with 
American partners during the December JEC meeting in 
Washington.  Of particular note, JABA has decided to 
reschedule AJEX, the American products exhibition and seminar 
series, to the end of September.  the JABA Board had 
originally planned to hold AJEX in late March, but found it 
increasingly difficult to secure commitments from sponsors, 
speakers, or participants from the U.S. to attend an event in 
Amman in that timeframe.  JABA hopes the new date will avoid 
complications from any potential conflict with Iraq in the 
spring, and will also avoid a scheduling crunch with a 
similar event, World Trade Week, which is currently scheduled 
for early June.  In addition, the September date will allow 
JABA to tie AJEX in with the second annual JEC meeting, which 
Trade Minister Bashir has informally said should be held in 
Amman in September.  JABA will continue to seek strong 
Embassy, USAID, and FCS support to maximize the impact of 
AJEX. 
 
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3 CITIES/3 SECTORS 
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3.  (u)  Following on discussions with Commerce DAS 
Williamson in December, JABA is planning a 3 cities/3 sectors 
tour of the U.S. for late March/early April.  JABA has 
already received a letter of support from DAS Williamson, and 
is in the process of identifying the industry sectors to be 
represented on the tour and the cities and program they hope 
to put together.  This tour to the U.S. is in place of the 
visit of a delegation of U.S. business associations that had 
been planned for the original AJEX dates in late March. 
Through this tour, JABA hopes both to help Jordanian industry 
leaders develop ties with U.S. partners (import, export, 
distribution, and/or marketing), and to keep the U.S.-Jordan 
FTA in the news in the U.S., at least among targeted 
audiences in trade and industrial sectors. 
 
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U.S. TIJARA COUNTERPART 
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4.  (u)  JABA will be working over the coming year with the 
Jordanian Embassy in Washington and with NUSACC and the U.S. 
Chamber of Commerce to encourage U.S. business associations 
and/or companies to form a counterpart organization to the 
TIJARA initiative currently underway in Jordan.  The concept 
is to form a roundtable of "friends of Jordan" that will meet 
regularly to discuss FTA opportunities, economic developments 
in Jordan, and upcoming trade and industry events.  JABA 
hopes to get either NUSACC or (preferably) the U.S. Chamber 
to be the "champion" of such a group, which they see as a 
vehicle for educating and advertising in the U.S. business 
community about economic opportunities in Jordan.  The 
Jordanian Embassy in Washington will also participate, and 
will likely encourage appropriate officers from State, 
Commerce, and USTR (at a minimum) to take part in the 
meetings. 
 
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REGIONAL AMCHAM 
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5.  (u)  JABA's final major initiative for 2003 is to talk to 
AmChams in the MENA region about establishing a regional 
AmCham body that could meet regularly and share data on 
members in an effort to multiply the benefits of increased 
U.S. interest in Jordan into expanded business relationships 
among Arab companies with U.S. market interests.  The idea 
would be modeled on the GCC AmCham.  As a first step, we are 
encouraging JABA to develop contacts with their Moroccan 
counterparts in anticipation of the conclusion of a 
U.S.-Morocco Free Trade Agreement.  While much of Jordan's 
business community fears such an agreement, JABA is 
increasingly taking the view that such an agreement will 
actually create new opportunities for cooperation among 
Moroccan and Jordanian businesses, which could use cumulation 
of origin concepts to develop new business alliances to 
export to the U.S. 
 
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COMMENT 
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6.  (u)  JABA's plans are a practical reaction to the current 
uncertainty in the region, which they see as likely to 
continue for several months.  By shifting their programs away 
from Jordan and into the U.S. and other regional countries, 
JABA hopes to maintain the momentum of new business 
relationships being developed under the FTA, and especially 
through the JEC mechanism.  We will be working with JABA to 
develop many of these programs, and will be in contact with 
interested Washington agencies as appropriate for follow-up 
and support.  Most immediately, we are following up with JABA 
on recent discussions we had with DoC regarding the 3 
cities/3 sectors program and the TIJARA counterpart 
initiative. 
GNEHM