Ayman Fadilat - Jaber border crossing
The merchant Yousuf Al-Thiabat returned to his shop, restaurant and money exchange office near the Jordanian border crossing of Jabir, opposite the Syrian port of Nisib, where he began to inspect the necessary needs to return to the ruined building three years after the border was closed.
The closure of the border for three years stopped commercial movement and many shops were subjected to cracking and vandalism, while owners have been rushing for days to maintain and resume work.
Abu Hadi, a small grocery owner, does not hide his joy at opening the border crossing. He says that the situation over the past three years has been very bad: restaurants, restrooms and cafes have become shelters for dogs and stray animals.
Trade recovery
Saadi Abu Hammad, head of the trade and exporters of vegetables and fruits said that opening the crossing at the beginning of the winter season will boost the movement of exporting vegetables to Syrian and Lebanese markets.
"The agricultural calendar between Jordan and Syria includes the export of vegetables in the winter in exchange for the importation of citrus fruits and some fruit varieties. The quantities of vegetables exported in 2015 before the closure of the crossing are about 120 thousand tons during winter," Abu Hammad told Al Jazeera.net.
He asked the government during a meeting Wednesday with the new Minister of Agriculture, Ibrahim Al-Shahaheda, to contact the Syrian Ministry of Agriculture to activate the agricultural calendar and to reduce the sanctions on exports and imports of vegetables and fruits to and from Syria and Lebanon.
| Syrians crossing the Jabir crossing after the opening of the border (Al Jazeera) |
Tourism is waiting
For its part, the Association of Agents of Tourist Offices sought to open the crossing. The Amman-Damascus-Beirut tourist route was visited by 1.25 million Jordanians every year.
According to former head of the association Shaher Hamdan, tourism between the three countries, which also extends to Turkey and Eastern Europe, is a major artery for Jordanian tourism.
He added that the average number of Jordanians who visit Syria for tourism, trade and visiting relatives reaches one million a year.
Hamdan wonders whether the situation in Syria will allow the conduct of tourist groups. Is the infrastructure there eligible for tourism? Pointing out that contacts are taking place between some companies and Syrian hotels to start the tourism movement.
Syrian Lira
The demand for the Syrian pound has increased during the last two days in the Jordanian border city of Ramtha. The head of the Jordan ATM Association Alaa Diraniya expected that the pound will improve during the coming period after the opening of the crossing.
Diranieh was counting on the improvement of the Syrian pound to activate the trade movement, where the exchange rate rose within two days by 1%.
| Mohammed Nsour: Customs Procedures Go easy and easy (island) |
The Association of the owners of companies and offices of clearance and transport of goods announced the start of 30 companies to provide services at the Jaber crossing after completion of the necessary licensing procedures from the Customs Department and the competent authorities.
"We did not change any new instructions on passengers, and the transactions have remained the same since mid-2015," said customs director Mohamed El Nsour.
Al Nisour added that customs procedures are easy and easy to carry in the areas of shipping and passengers throughout the working period, on the basis of agreement with the "Syrian brothers."