His Majesty King Abdullah II on Tuesday stressed the importance of enhancing the food industry’s contribution to the national economy, noting its significance in achieving food security for Jordan, creating job opportunities, and increasing exports.

The Jordanian food industry’s current production capacity has reached over JD5 billion, with its products covering over 65 per cent of local consumption, and reaching more than 140 global markets.

During a meeting at Al Husseiniya Palace with the concerned representatives from the public and private sectors, His Majesty called for accelerating the implementation of the Economic Modernisation Vision in a way that supports sector growth and contributes to the promotion of food exports in international markets, especially in European countries and the United States.

The King stressed the need to expedite abiding by food chain traceability standards, which provide information on food from production to sale, as a requirement to expand the reach of local products in global markets.

The food industry employs 42,000 workers, mostly Jordanians, and its exports amounted to about JD460 million during the first seven months of this year, at a 30 per cent growth rate over the same period last year.

The meeting, attended by Prime Minister Jafar Hassan, covered key initiatives currently underway to bolster the sector’s growth, diversify its products, and boost its competitiveness.