Middle East Gates Open to Turkey: Gul's Visit to Jordan

Monday, 7 December 2009

Following Syria, Albania, Qatar and Libya, the visas with Jordan have now been abolished as well.

There are new countries in line, both from the Middle East and other regions; however, the visit to Jordan by President Abdullah Gul witnessed more important agreements other than the removal of visas.

The limitations on trade between the two countries were substantially removed through the “Mutual Administrative Aid Agreement Concerning Customs Issues” and “Partnership Agreement Establishing Free Trade Zone”. Success is still limited to paper, because many documents can be signed in the Middle East, but the implementation of what is written takes much longer.

President Gul arrived in Jordan on 2 December 2009 with Minister of State Aliye Kavaf, Minister of Industry and Trade Nihat Ergün, parliamentarians, high ranked bureaucrats, diplomats, a crowded business committee and representatives from universities and think tanks including USAK.

The three day visit was like another attempt to expand Turkey’s role in the region. President Gul gave importance to the Turkish businessmen’s bilateral relations as much as he cared about the signed agreements. As a matter of fact, the agreements were the easier part of the visit. The texts had already been prepared prior to the visit and were signed upon arrival. Issues of trust have problem has been resolved on the Jordanian side; signing the agreements can be likened lo serving a cooked meal. However, the problems of businessmen needed urgent care. As the state draws closer to businessmen, they want to be supported by the state more and more. Although they receive more attention than they have in the past, they are not satisfied and they have a right to feel like that. They turn the state attention towards investment, employment and the improvement of Turkey’s image. In other words, as the state pats businessmen on the back, and shares in their grievances, businessmen even perform the tasks that the state has to do. President Gul is aware of it, because he is from Kayseri, which is known for its business dealings. His academic background is in the field of economy which also helps him to acknowledge that a significant part of foreign politics includes economy. A great number of businessmen who participated to in the trips have known him since his time in the Foreign Ministry. Consequently, President Gul and his committee discuss the problems of businessmen in almost every meeting in view of the other side; he has done his best to provide access to Turkish companies in the Jordanian markets. It can be seen that the new Middle Eastern politics of Turkey are based on economic relations; Turkey wishes to develop its political relations on the basis of economy. Prior to launching the arrangements facilitating free trade with Turkey, Jordan side was frightened. It was saying ‘If the gates are opened, the developed Turkish economy will swallow us.” The 'excessive eagerness’ of Turks to develop relations did not help to decrease their fears, it probably raised them. Due to this, they first asked to Syria and Egypt since both of these countries expressed how they had benefited to great extent thanks to trade liberalization with Turkey. Their praise changed the attitude of Jordan. For instance, Egypt explained that the Turks created more than 60.000 new employments in the country in just last two years. Similarly, Syria appreciated its relations with Turkey. Thus, the concerns of Jordan decreased substantially and it became possible to sign three agreements.

The trade volume between Turkey and Jordan exceeded $450 million in 2008. However, there is a severe imbalance in trade relations in favor of Turkey. While the export of Turkey exceeds $400 million, the export of Jordan to Turkey is not even one tenth of that. A one sided relation is not possible. The relations can only be sustained in an order where both sides gain. Turkey is aware of this fact and is exploring what can be done on the basis of win-win principle. * The Economy of Jordan and Turkish Entrepreneurship Jordan is a relatively small country. Its population is around 6.5 million, and at least 60% of this population has Palestinian origin. There are 1.5 million Palestinian refugees within the country and they are living in refugee camps. After the Iraq War, more than 700.000 Iraqis came to Jordan. However, because most of these Iraqis were well-off, this migration had a positive impact on the economy. The country’s economy grew more than 7 % during the two years following the Iraq War and the capital, Amman, continues to be like a building site. Formal bids coming into existence with this revenue increase attract Turkish companies. Turkish businessmen in Jordan say the difficulties in private trade are not generally experienced in contracts which are signed by the state. Jordan does not have a significant industry. Tourism is not unimportant for the country’s economy, but it is still a sector under its potential. The country does not have an important natural resource either. Moreover, it has hardly any potable water. Despite this ‘distressful’ scene, the economy in Jordan succeeds in withstanding difficulties, it has strategic importance. Both the US and EU attach great importance to Jordan. Even Israel wants Jordan to stand up and develop in certain ways. Similarly, other Arab countries, especially oil rich Arabs, support Jordan. In this way, Jordan proves its success in turning its political importance to money. In addition, earnings, sent to the country by Jordanians who work in other countries, count also as incomes. The unemployment rate is around 12 % in the country. When immigrants are considered as part of the country’s population, unemployment becomes high enough to upset the balance. In spite of this, one of the most important problems of companies, which plan to invest in the country, is to find workers. Many companies bring their own workers when they invest there or try to find workers from a third country. For example, more than 70 % of approximately 1.500 workers employed by Sahinler company, a textile firm, are from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and other various countries. The reasons for employment of foreign workers include the efforts to decrease the costs and difficulties in finding skilled workers. In fact, Jordanians, when compared to the other Arab countries, are more sophisticated. The literacy rate is more than 90 % unlike the low rates of other Arab countries, and a large part of the population can speak English. However, the business culture is still weak: Lower classes still prefer jobs, and the entrepreneurship remains very weak in higher classes; it is not comparable to the Turkish case. The biggest contribution to the presence of Turkish companies in these countries is the establishment of a culture of entrepreneurship. For instance, many Arabs in Egypt admired Turkish way of business. The facilities that Turkish companies provide such as regular lunch and transportation, fascinated the Arabs and a new business understanding started to flourish there. The most important contribution of Turkey to Jordan will probably take place in this field. Their relatively liberal Jordan economy will attain a permanent, institutionalized and localized advancement with developmental dynamics...