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Jordan Direction of Trade
Whereas almost 50 percent of Jordan's imports came from the
United States and Western Europe, these same countries bought less
than 10 percent of Jordanian exports. The direction of external
trade generally followed Jordan's self-perceived economic identity
as an indirect intermediary between the West and the developed
world on the one hand, and the Arab countries and the Third World
on the other. But because other Arab nations remained the most
important customers--buying almost 50 percent of the 1987 export
total of almost JD249 million--Jordanian markets were
insufficiently diversified to benefit fully from this strategy. In
early 1989, the Arab Cooperation Council, composed of Jordan,
Egypt, Iraq, and the Yemen Arab Republic (North Yemen), was
established to promote trade. This development, as well as the
creation of the Joint Syrian-Jordanian Economic Committee, could
reinforce Jordan's concentration on nearby markets. In the late
1980s, Jordan nevertheless sought to expand its export markets and
had targeted Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa as potential
prospects.
In 1987 Iraq continued to be Jordan's largest export customer.
Jordan exported nearly JD60 million worth of goods to Iraq, but
most of this figure resulted from transit and reexport rather than
from bilateral trade. Saudi Arabia was Jordan's second largest
export customer. Jordanian exports to Egypt had grown more than
four-fold since 1985, demonstrating that Egypt was an important new
outlet. Other major Arab export markets included Kuwait, Syria, and
the United Arab Emirates (see
table 14, Appendix).
South Asian and East Asian nations were regarded as promising
markets, particularly for the sale of fertilizer and industrial
chemicals. In 1987 India was Jordan's third largest export
customer. Exports to China, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Japan also
were growing. Furthermore, trade protocols signed in 1987 with both
Thailand and Turkey may have opened the door to greater exports to
both the Asian and the European markets.
Italy was Jordan's only major West European customer. Jordanian
officials envisioned improved prospects in Eastern Europe,
particularly in Poland, Romania, and Yugoslavia. Jordan regarded
Africa as a potentially vast market that could constitute one of
the first experiments with the so-called "South-South" relationship
advocated in Third-World circles. Whereas exports to Africa
remained minimal in 1987, Jordan's apparent willingness to consider
countertrade and barter remained attractive to such markets.
Jordan imported about JD916 million worth of goods in 1987.
Iraq was the largest source of imports, but much of the JD99
million worth of products it sent to Jordan were intended for
reexport. Imports from Saudi Arabia, Jordan's third largest import
source in 1987, consisted mainly of oil. Almost 40 percent of
Jordan's total import bill in 1987 came from eight West European
nations, headed by the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany),
Britain, and Italy. The United States was Jordan's second largest
source of imports and Japan was another significant import source.
Data as of December 1989
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