Pakistan and Jordan have agreed to pursue a preferential trade agreement and significantly expand bilateral cooperation across a wide range of priority sectors, as both countries seek to translate long-standing diplomatic relations into concrete economic and technological outcomes. The understanding was reached during the 10th session of the Pakistan-Jordan Joint Ministerial Commission, held in Islamabad on February 4 and 5, according to an official statement issued on Thursday.
The meeting was co-chaired by Pakistan’s Minister for Commerce Jam Kamal Khan and Jordan’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Yarub Qudah. It marked a renewed effort to activate the Joint Ministerial Commission framework, which was established in 1975 but has seen limited progress in recent years due to irregular engagement and weak follow-through on agreed initiatives.
A central outcome of the session was the decision to initiate consultations on a preferential trade agreement. The proposed PTA is intended to improve market access, reduce trade barriers, and facilitate smoother trade flows between the two countries. Officials indicated that the framework would place particular emphasis on encouraging private sector participation and addressing practical obstacles faced by exporters and investors on both sides.
To guide the process, Pakistan and Jordan agreed to activate a Joint Working Group on Trade and Investment, which will be tasked with identifying priority areas, addressing regulatory bottlenecks, and recommending concrete steps to advance the PTA discussions. In addition, both sides decided to revive the Pakistan-Jordan Business Council as a platform to strengthen business-to-business engagement and support commercial partnerships between companies in the two markets.
Alongside trade-related decisions, the meeting produced a memorandum of understanding on information technology and telecommunications. The MoU aims to enhance cooperation in digital innovation, technology services, and collaboration between the information and communications technology sectors of both countries. Officials said the agreement would encourage knowledge sharing, joint initiatives, and closer engagement between technology firms, startups, and public-sector institutions operating in the digital space.
The commission also agreed to broaden cooperation in banking and finance, including increased engagement between the central banks of Pakistan and Jordan. This includes exploring avenues for financial collaboration, improving institutional linkages, and supporting trade and investment flows through stronger financial sector coordination.
Beyond trade and finance, the two sides endorsed cooperation across 16 priority sectors, reflecting a deliberate effort to widen the scope of bilateral engagement. These areas include industry, agriculture, halal standards, education, skills development, and healthcare, with an emphasis on institutional cooperation and the creation of dedicated working groups to drive implementation.
Additional areas of collaboration agreed during the session include climate change, energy, mining, maritime affairs, media, culture, and tourism. Officials noted that expanding cooperation into these sectors would help diversify the relationship and create new opportunities for economic exchange, investment, and people-to-people contact.
Welcoming the signing of the session’s protocol, Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan said the Joint Ministerial Commission reflected a shared resolve to pursue result-oriented cooperation, particularly in trade, investment, and private sector engagement. He stressed that sustained momentum would be essential to ensure that the agreed initiatives deliver measurable outcomes.
Secretary of the Ministry of Economic Affairs Muhammad Humair Karim Kidwai highlighted the importance of structured follow-up mechanisms, noting that regular monitoring and coordination would be critical to translating decisions into tangible progress. Both sides acknowledged that the breadth of agreed cooperation would require effective implementation and continued political and institutional commitment.
Pakistan and Jordan also reaffirmed their commitment to holding Joint Ministerial Commission meetings on a regular basis, describing the platform as a key institutional mechanism for advancing bilateral economic cooperation and maintaining continuity in policy dialogue. The latest session signals a renewed intent by both governments to move beyond symbolic engagement and toward deeper, more sustained collaboration across trade, technology, and economic development.
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