Amman Chamber Of Commerce

Historical Overview on the (ACC):

The (ACC) was founded in the year 1923 according to an initiative made by forty merchants then, and is, therefore, the oldest chamber of commerce to have been set up in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. The (ACC) is a non-profit organization of public interest, operating according to the provisions of the Temporary Law No. (73) for the year 2003, and is not intended to realize any profit but rather seeks to serve its members.In fact, the (ACC) played an important role in activating and improving the trade and economic activity in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Since its establishment in the year 1923 and up to the middle of the past century, the (ACC) remained limited in terms of membership, financial resources and services.
The (ACC) is one of the oldest chambers in Jordan, the (ACC) has played an important role in the various fields of socioeconomic progrees for more than half a century of Jordan’s life, and assumed a leading role in activating trade and economic development, in general. The (ACC) represents the private sector which plays an important and effective role within the present economic system of mixed patterns displaying the joint efforts exerted by the private and public sectors alike.

(ACC) Phases of Progress:

The phases of progress through which the (ACC) has gone can be divided into three phases as follows:

Phase One: This phase begins with the foundation of the (ACC) in the year 1923 and extends for quarter of a century until formation of the unity between the two banks of the Jordan Rives in the year 1948. During this period, the (ACC) used to be of a limited nature in terms of membership, financial resources and services. In that period, the (ACC) had only (40) members and its annual financial revenues did not exceed (JD 60), and by the end of this period, the (ACC) had nearly (300) members, and the (ACC) annual financial revenues exceeded (JD 3000).
During this period, the (ACC) used to address public economic issues such as combatting high prices, providing basic goods to consumers, determining fees for transporting goods and passengers via cars and trains, determining housing rentals, and drawing up and observing regulations for weights and measurements. Moreover, the (ACC) used to provide services to the trade community in the fields of arbitration, endorsement of guarantees and invoices.

Phase Two: Phase Two begins in the early 1950s and extends up to the year 1960, and this phase witnessed major events both at the national level and at the chambers of commerce level. The Arab World suffered the 1948 Disaster thereby doubling the population size of Jordan as a result of the big number of Palestinian residents who fled their homes and most of whom resided in Amman and worked in the trade sector. As a result, the number of (ACC) members and affiliates rose in the year 1960 to nearly (2800) members from (300) members at the beginning of this phase. On the other hand, the the (ACC) annual revenues rose remarkably by the end of this phase in 1960 to (JD 8300) compared to (JD 2000) in the year 1950. Insofar as the (ACC) is concerned, this period was marked by issuance of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry Law No. (41) for the year 1949, and this Law determined the Chambers’ authorities and tasks. In light of the new Law, the (ACC) started laying down rules and pillars of modern administration, and exercized the authorities and tasks vested in it according to the new legislations, and expanded the services extended to its members and to the trade community. In this phase, the (ACC) played an active role in establishing the Federation of Jordanian Chambers of Commerce, and participated in setting up the General Federation for Chambers of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture of Arab Countries. Thus, the number of (ACC) employees has been doubled twice in order to cope with the large expansion of membership size and services as a result of the amazing demographic explosion in the aftermath of the 1948 Disaster and the unity of the two Banks of the Jordan River.

Phase Three: It is the present phase which begins in the early 1960s and during which the (ACC) witnessed enormous expansion of its actities, services, and financial resources. The number of (ACC) members registered in the early 1970s rose to nearly (5000) members compared to around (3800) members in the early 1960s. Moreover, the (ACC) financial revenues exceeded (JD 26000) in 1971 compared to (JD 8300) in the year 1960. Such increase in revenues led to expnding the scope of (ACC) services and activities and also led to regulating and expanding the (ACC) executive entities. The number of (ACC) members continued to increase until it reached (43) thousand members by the end of the year 2011. During this phase, the country witnessed a number of Economic Development Pland, and the private sector represented by the (ACC) played an important role in supporting and participating effectively in implementing those development plans. As representative of the private sector, the (ACC) participated actively in lawmaking and drawing up labor, financial, trade and other legislations of economic nature. Yet, the (ACC) took part in activating trade exchange at Arab abd international levels, and participated in a big number of conferences and fairs. In this regard, the (ACC) delegations paid visits to a number of countries, and also received visiting trade delegations from other countries within the framework of consolidating trade relations and increasing the volume of trade exchange between these countries and Jordan.

(ACC) Objectives:

– Upgrade the trade sector representation towards reflecting the sector’s size and importance.
– Draw up a positive image for the (ACC).
– Strengthen the means of communication both internally and externally and activate the informative aspect of the (ACC).
– Improve and reinforce the data and information base, activate benefiting therefrom, and provide the latest information about the market and economy.
– Improve the services extended to (ACC) members in therms of both quantity and quality, and serve the (ACC) memebers and meet their needs.
– Improve the business environment through participating in and taking initiatives to improve the legislative environment, and influence the economic and trade laws and policies.
– Encourage international trade.
– Settle and solve trade disputes.
– Provide support for the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and encourage innovative projects and works.
– Improve the trade practices in terms of both quality and efficiency.
– Attract local and foreign investments.
– Create and effective communication system.