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Jordan's Peace Dividend
(Jerusalem Post) Orly Halpern - Jordan is trying to transform from an agriculture-based economy to an industrializedone through 12 special qualifying industrial zones (QIZ) that allow companies to export tax-free to the U.S. provided that 35% of the product is jointly Jordanian and Israeli, and that the Israeli component constitutes at least 8%. The U.S. approved the zones in order to reward Jordan for its peace-making effort. Al-Tajamouat, the most productive QIZ, has 31 factories manufacturing garments and jewelry for customers such as Ralph Lauren, Victoria's Secret, Levis, Bill Blass, Wal-Mart, Sears, Hanes, and JC Penney. While 56 companies in the QIZs employ more than 32,000 workers, half are not Jordanian. Since Jordan still lacks the kind of workforce necessary for manning and supervising conveyor belts, foreign investors fly in workers from Sri Lanka, China, and Bangladesh. Jordan's leaders are scrambling to find ways to encourage their own people to take the jobs and adapt to fixed hours, short breaks, and bossy superiors who must be heeded.