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1400 GENEVA TIME ( 1300  GMT) 10 NOVEMBER 2008  
 
PRESS/TPRB/306 
10 November 2008 
 
(08-5425) 
TRADE POLICY REVIEW: JORDAN 
Continued reform would help an already strong economic 
performance 
Jordan has made great strides following its accession to the WTO, in reforming its economy and 
liberalizing its trade regime. This has contributed to average real GDP growth of close to 6% over the past 8 years, a relatively low inflation, and increasing annual inflows of foreign direct 
investment, according to a WTO Secretariat report on the trade policies and practices of Jordan. 
 Since its economy is dominated by services, a sector accounting for two thirds of its GDP, Jordan 
would benefit from further opening key service subsectors and by streamlining its business 
environment that remains somewhat inhibited by administrative hurdles, limitations on foreign participation in certain activities and costly transport infrastructure and utilities. 
 
Jordan would also gain from further dismantling of  its tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade, and 
simplification of its complex incentives regime in which five schemes overlap.  
 
The WTO report, along with a policy statement by the Government of Jordan, will be the basis for 
the first TPR of Jordan by the Trade Policy Revi ew Body of the WTO on 10 and 12 November 2008. 
 
The following documents are available in MS Wo rd format on the WTO web-site. They can be 
downloaded at http://www.wto.org/english/ tratop_e/tpr_e/tp306_e.htm  
 
• Secretariat reports 
> Contents and summary observations  
> Economic environment  
> Trade and investment regimes  > Trade policies and practices by measure  
> Trade policies by sector  
> Appendix tables  
• Report by Government of Jordan 
• Chairperson’s concluding remarks  
• Minutes of the meeting (available appr oximately six weeks after the meeting). PRESS/TPRB/306 
Page 2 of 2 
 
 
 Note 
Trade Policy Reviews are an exercise, mandated in the WTO Agreement, in which member countries’ trade and related policies are examined and evaluated at regular intervals. Significant 
developments that may have an impact on the global trading system are also monitored. For each 
review, two documents are prepared: a policy stat ement by the government of the member under 
review, and a detailed report written independently by the WTO Secretariat. These two documents are then discussed by the WTO’s full membership in  the Trade Policy Review Body (TPRB). These 
documents and the proceedings of the TPRB’s meetings are published shortly afterwards.  
 Print copies of the TPR publications are available for sale from the WTO Secretariat, Centre William 
Rappard, 154 rue de Lausanne, 1211 Genève 21 and through the on-line bookshop at 
https://secure.vtx.ch/shop/boutiques/wto_index_boutique.html  or follow this path :  
www.wto.org >resources > publications > trade policy reviews  
 
The TPR publications are also available from our co-publisher Bernan Press , 4611-F Assembly Drive, Lanham, MD 20706-4391, United States 
Next reviews: 
Dominican Republic: 24 and 26 November 2008 
Liechtenstein and Switzerland: 15 and 17 December 2008 
 
For a full list of previous trade policy reviews and the full programme of future reviews go to 
http://www.wto.org/english/trat op_e/tpr_e/tpr_ e.htm#reviews 
or follow this path : www.wto.org > trade topics > trade policy reviews 
  
 
END