Chairman of the Lower House Agriculture, Water and Badia Committee, MP Mohammad Alaqma, lauded Jordanian Palestinian Agricultural Marketing Company (JPACO)’s role. During the committee’s meeting Wednesday, with JAPCO’s manager, Alaa El-Din Abu Khair, and its chairman of the director’s board, secretary-general of the Ministry of Agriculture, Mohammad Hiyari, the lawmaker stressed importance of the company’s role in serving the agricultural sector, especially small farmers. Alaqma urged the company to develop its projects, reduce unemployment rate among the local community, and market small farmers’ agricultural products. Meanwhile, the committee’s members stressed importance of protecting local product and marketing it regionally and internationally, especially for European markets, to serve farmers. The lawmakers pointed to the need to integrate modern agricultural technology and open new air transport routes, stressing need to use local agricultural surplus in the agricultural industry, such as tomato paste products. Hiyari said the company’s directors board, who consists of 8 members, is co-chaired alternately by Jordan and Palestine, and is equally owned by the two countries. For his part, Abu Khair said the company “does not compete with the private sector, but rather supports and backs its role, and assists medium and small farmers.” To date, he announced the company contracted with 14 European countries to market Jordanian local products, noting that 120 containers were exported to Europe. He added that the company has a logistical support office in Amman to protect the local product, while work is currently underway to establish a packaging center to prepare products for export.

Source: Jordan News Agency