Chairman of the Jordan Chamber of Industry, Fathi Al-Jaghbir, affirmed that the manufacturing sector constitutes the backbone of Jordan’s industrial sector, with annual production valued at approximately $21 billion, while intermediate consumption amounts to around $11.6 billion.
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He explained that this generates an estimated added value of $9.3 billion annually, representing 45% of total production. According to Al-Jaghbir, this percentage reflects the significant economic impact of manufacturing industries in generating income and wealth within the national economy.
Al-Jaghbir noted that value-added manufacturing industries are among the most important drivers of sustainable economic growth due to their role in transforming raw materials and production inputs into products with higher economic value. This contributes directly to increased productivity, job creation, export growth, and a greater contribution of the industrial sector to gross domestic product (GDP).
His remarks came after World Bank Managing Director of Operations, Anna Bjerde, highlighted during a recent visit to Jordan the importance of value-added manufacturing industries, emphasizing their role in creating jobs and supporting economic growth.
According to Al-Jaghbir, manufacturing industries have a strong capacity to generate employment compared with many other economic activities. The sector employs approximately 254,000 workers across nearly 18,000 industrial establishments throughout the Kingdom, making it one of the largest sectors contributing to employment and supporting social and economic stability.
He stressed the particular importance of high value-added manufacturing industries, especially in the chemical, pharmaceutical, food processing, engineering, leather, and textile sectors. These industries represent key growth drivers under Jordan’s Economic Modernization Vision due to their ability to create substantial added value, enhance economic competitiveness, increase exports, attract quality investments, and generate sustainable employment opportunities for Jordanians.
Al-Jaghbir also pointed out that manufacturing industries maximize the use of local resources and available raw materials, strengthen national value chains, reduce dependence on imports, and increase local content in production, thereby enhancing the resilience of the national economy and its ability to withstand external challenges.
He emphasized that the impact of manufacturing extends beyond direct value creation, influencing sectors such as transportation, storage, logistics, trade, financial services, and technology. Economic studies, he noted, indicate that every dinar spent in the industrial sector generates a total economic impact of approximately 2.17 dinars within the national economy.
This multiplier effect, he explained, results from the extensive production linkages between industry and other economic sectors, making industrial investment one of the most effective tools for stimulating economic growth and creating jobs.
To make value-added manufacturing a cornerstone of economic growth in the coming years, Al-Jaghbir called for greater investment in technology-intensive industries, enhanced industrial research and development, and increased innovation.
He also stressed the importance of aligning educational, vocational, and technical training outcomes with industry needs, developing local value chains, supporting projects aimed at import substitution and export expansion, improving the business environment, reducing production, energy, and financing costs, and maximizing the benefits of Jordan’s trade agreements.
Al-Jaghbir affirmed that expanding high value-added manufacturing industries will not only increase industrial production but also serve as a direct investment in quality job creation, economic competitiveness, sustainable growth, and the achievement of the goals set out in Jordan’s Economic Modernization Vision.
Jordan ranked first among Arab countries and 27th globally in manufacturing's contribution to GDP, according to the classification of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), reflecting the maturity of the Kingdom’s productive base and the depth of its industrial value chains compared with many economies that rely on low-value primary production.
According to the Jordan Chamber of Industry, the added value generated by Jordan’s industrial sector reached JD 8.6 billion in 2025, compared with JD 4.4 billion in 2010, representing cumulative growth of more than 94% and an average annual growth rate of approximately 5% over the past decade.
Source: Petra
