Jordan Seeks to Deepen Economic Ties with Germany

Vendors sell vegetable and fruits at a market in downtown Amman June 4, 2018. (AFP)
Vendors sell vegetable and fruits at a market in downtown Amman June 4, 2018. (AFP)
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Jordan Seeks to Deepen Economic Ties with Germany

Vendors sell vegetable and fruits at a market in downtown Amman June 4, 2018. (AFP)
Vendors sell vegetable and fruits at a market in downtown Amman June 4, 2018. (AFP)

Jordan’s State Minister for Investment Affairs Mohannad Shehadeh said that developing the country’s technical services sector with German expertise and redrafting export agreements to Europe are a priority for the government in its effort to bolster economic cooperation with Berlin.

He highlighted the success achieved by German firms operating in Jordan and the arrival of technical and technological Jordanian products to German markets through investment in Jordanian human capabilities and potential.

He added that the success of German companies, such as Siemens, represent an opportunity for the German investor to focus on producing services and re-exporting them.

He made his remarks before the Amman Chamber of Industry that met in Amman on Thursday to discuss available investment opportunities in Jordan and reassess economic cooperation between the Jordanian and German private sectors.

Shehadeh added that improving and developing Jordanian expertise, in addition to participating in the global economy, help the services sector in the country overcome previous restrictions.

Energy Minister Hala Zawati assured that investment opportunities are available in the alternative energy fields, underpinning that the government has several substitutes to exploit the renewable energy sources in the country.

German speakers at the meeting voiced interest to provide logistic and technical support to Jordan in a way that reinforces compliance with European consumer requirements and fulfills the goals of developing the Jordanian energy and services sector.



Trump Taps Scott Bessent for Treasury

(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
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Trump Taps Scott Bessent for Treasury

(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)
(FILES) Scott Bessent, head of Key Square Group and former chief investment officer of Soros Fund Management, attends the second day of the annual Allen & Company Sun Valley Conference, July 12, 2017 in Sun Valley, Idaho.(Photo by Drew ANGERER / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP)

President-elect Donald Trump on Friday said he will nominate prominent investor Scott Bessent as US Treasury secretary, a key cabinet position with vast influence over economic, regulatory and international affairs.

"I am most pleased to nominate Scott Bessent to serve as the 79th Secretary of the Treasury of the United States," Trump said in a statement released on Truth Social. "Scott is widely respected as one of the world's foremost international investors and geopolitical and economic strategists."

Wall Street has been closely watching who Trump will pick, especially given his plans to remake global trade through tariffs and extend and potentially expand the raft of tax cuts enacted during his first term, Reuters reported
The choice came after days of deliberations by Trump as he sorted through a shifting list of candidates. Bessent spent day after day at Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida providing economic advice, sources said, a proximity to the president-elect that may have helped him prevail.
Other names that had been floated included Apollo Global Management Chief Executive Marc Rowan and former Federal Reserve Governor Kevin Warsh. Investor John Paulson had also been a leading candidate, but dropped out, while Wall Street veteran Howard Lutnick, another contender, was appointed as head of the Commerce Department.
Bessent, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has advocated for tax reform and deregulation, particularly to spur more bank lending and energy production, as noted in a recent opinion piece he wrote for The Wall Street Journal.
The market's surge after Trump's election victory, he wrote, signaled investor expectations of "higher growth, lower volatility and inflation, and a revitalized economy for all Americans."
"Bessent has been on the side of less aggressive tariffs," said Oxford Economics' Ryan Sweet, adding that picking him makes the steep tariffs Trump proposed on the campaign trail less likely.
Bessent follows other financial luminaries who have taken the job, including former Goldman Sachs executives Robert Rubin, Hank Paulson and Steven Mnuchin, Trump's first Treasury chief. Janet Yellen, the current secretary and first woman in the job, previously chaired the Federal Reserve and White House Council of Economic Advisers.
Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina, Bessent's home state, said in a statement: "President Trump's economic agenda is in good hands with Scott Bessent. I look forward to working closely with Scott and President Trump to lower inflation and create the golden age of prosperity for the American people."