I have been remotely monitoring the ongoing saga between the Professional Associations and the Jordanian government with great interest. For some reason I feel compelled to comment on what‘s going on: These "professional" unions are becoming a waste of space. Many unions that impose mandatory subscription fees fail to do anything useful for members, instead wasting time, effort and energy indulging in regional politics.
I wonder: If they are so keen on debating political issues then why not pursue other avenues to do so? The unions shouldn’t be a platform for voicing frustration about issues like the American administration’s foreign policy, as but one example.
Instead of focusing their time on, say, increasing the minimum wages of their members and finding ways to improve their respective professional fields, the unions organize rallies, events and sit-ins discussing regional (Note: regional not local) politics — something that will advance their particular body absolutely nowhere!
Inspired by a Thomas Friedman column, I’m compelled to say that the associations focus all their energy on anti-Americanism, failing to see the problems in their own backyards. If they insist on putting regional politics such as Iraqi elections (as another example) ahead of their real raison d’être then I would not shed one tear if they were closed down!
AMIR program? I like it.
I understand the purpose of the program. It is to say, if you want US economic goodies, you have to try to work with your neighbors, under the theory that the more people know about each other and interact with each other, the less likely they are to go to war. Personally, I think that theory is bunk.
As for selling the clothing – maybe it is just as simple as they get more for it in the States. But, maybe you have discovered a market opportunity – perhaps you should open a factory to develop local market goods.
Of course true, though the US “outlet” retailers usually tear the original brand name tag, sometimes even stamp something in it to show “outlet” level. Outlet can also mean “old” or “broken” or “overstock” depending on the vendor. The original manufacturer usually goes to great lengths to make sure it is clear that you are holding an outlet piece and not a brand new full retail item, which should be perfect. They could do this in Jordan with little difficulty, even removing the brand name completely.
I thought the “Made in” made little sense as well. But it appears to work this way. And you are right about how it was to benefit Egypt and Jordan but for whatever reason, Israel is an integral partner in the whole process, tying their fates together. It’s really an interesting arrangement. Here’s a little snippet from the AMIR program, funded by USAID.
The danger with selling locally at discounted prices is that enterprising locals sometimes figure out ways to get these products back to the US. I have seen this with another industry, where our products sold in Asia at lower prices wound up being sold by third parties to US retailers – sometimes they were not the same makes or quality, but they had our name on it. That could be what they are thinking.
Putting “Made in Israel” on a product puzzles me a bit, as it is controversial enough to hurt sales. Most Israeli companies do not label products as such (even on non-subsitutable pharmaceutical and technology items, much less easily substitable clothing).
Anyhow, I think the whole point of the QIZ’s is to give financial benefit to Egypt and Jordan, as Israel does not really benefit from them in any way.
Yes, isn’t that “Made in Israel” label an amazing thing. The way these QIZs work, as I understand it, is that they have to have a certain percentage of Israel in them — labor, content or something — as part of the US free-trade agreement USFTA). And I believe the percentage determines the label (sometimes it does say “Made in Jordan”).
I also understand there are varying degrees of Israeli connection-participation with some of the QIZ areas, likely to the great ire of many associated (perhaps less to those making money from them). That part was always the bitter pill of this arrangement: Open up US markets but require a certain percentage of what you send to come from Israel; using commerce to achieve a political objective. It’d be nice if it could just be whatever it wants to be without that agenda, though the reasoning seems quite obvious and has become acceptable to many associated.
And yes, we had confirmed to us time and again that none of these clothes would reach the Jordanian market. And honestly, I don’t understand why. These are good quality clothes that could be sold at an “outlet” price to locals. What harm could come of that? I’m not sure how it works in other parts of the world with similar arrangements. But in Jordan, they just ship any outlet stock to the US and sell it there sometimes for prices that would have been reasonable in the kingdom.
Jeff, Linda and Luai, thanks for filling in the gaps. I knew a Philippina seamstress who used to train the ladies and she said they did a great job, and would soon put the imported Chinese laborers.
Why are they allowed to put “Made in Israel” labels? Insult to injury.
I wish we could buy it here too. Friends and I have considered raiding the dumpsters. 🙂