Syria border closure cuts off key Jordan trade route

AMMAN // When security fears forced Jordan to close its last border crossing with Syria this month, it severed its most important trade route to the outside, further straining an economy already hit by fallout from war.

Hundreds of importers and exporters lost millions of dollars worth of goods when rebels pillaged the vast free trade zone that straddled the border, most of it on the Syrian side.

Car importer Mohammed Bustnje says he was among the lucky ones, losing only tens of thousands of dollars when looters raided his offices and made off with televisions, air conditioning units, even doors and windows.

He said the rest of the importers lost hundreds of cars after rebels seized the Syrian side of the crossing this month.

Nabil Romman is chairman of the Jordanian investment commission for the zone, which contains not only warehouses but even assembly plants for some goods.

He said there were more than 1,000 traders doing business there – Syrians, Jordanians, even Iraqis – with a combined inventory of more than US$1 billion (Dh3.67bn). An estimated $100 million in goods was stolen, he said.

The Syrian side of the border was seized on April 1 by rebels with links to the local Al Qaeda affiliate, Jabhat Al Nusra.

When Jareb crossing, as Jordanians know it, was captured from troops loyal to president Bashar Al Assad, hundreds of truckers were stranded on both sides of the frontier with their cargos, not just its entrepreneurs.

Mr Romman said, “[The] Jaber crossing is a vital artery between us and Europe. Seventy per cent of what we eat, of everything we import and export, passed through Syria.”

Goods were brought in and exported by sea from Lebanon, or even travelled overland through Turkey farther north.

Mohammed Daud, president of the Jordanian truckers’ union, estimates that the long-term damage from lost trade with not only Syria, but also Iraq, could reach $500 million.

He said around 2,500 trucks crossed the Syrian border daily before a pro-democracy uprising broke out four years ago and degenerated into civil war. That number was down to “a couple hundred when the border was closed. Now it is zero”.

Not only is it effectively cut off from Syria to the north, it has also seen commerce with Iraq severely curtailed because of the conflict between the government and the ISIL group there.

Jordan has virtually no oil reserves.Economist Mazen Al Rashid said: “The longer the borders are closed, the more serious the consequences will be for the Jordanian economy.”

“The decline in exports could exacerbate the trade deficit, which would force Jordan to borrow more to cover the difference.”

Jordan’s debt had already reached a record $30 billion last year.

The only real bright spot for Jordan has been the sharp plunge in oil prices, which means that the kingdom’s import bills are lower.

* Agence France-Presse