Jordan is vying to break Israel’s dominance of a major cosmetics industry based on Dead Sea minerals famous for their therapeutic qualities but, despite an abundance of mud, still has far to go.
Two decades after production first started, the industry on the Jordanian side still has a turnover of just US$30 million a year and accounts for only 0.5 percent of the kingdom’s annual exports of about US$6 billion.
Israel’s Ahava, which markets its moisturizing lotions and a range of other Dead Sea products in 30 countries, alone earns more than US$150 million a year, five times more than all of the Jordanian companies.
Some 50 Jordanian firms produce Dead Sea cosmetics, but only 15 have a global presence in markets across the Middle East, Asia, Europe and the US.
“The kingdom is rich in materials and its Dead Sea shoreline is muddy, in contrast to Israel’s rocky shoreline,” said Osama Qutaishat, head of Jordan’s association of manufacturers of Dead Sea products and owner of one of its largest cosmetics companies.
Israel’s rocky shoreline has meant it has even imported raw materials from Jordan since the two countries signed a peace treaty in 1994.
“Many studies have shown that Dead Sea minerals including potassium, magnesium, silicon, sodium and calcium are effective in treating and preventing illnesses like psoriasis, eczema and acne,” Qutaishat said.
Landlocked between Jordan, Israel and the occupied West Bank, the Dead Sea is the world’s lowest and saltiest body of water.
Legend says the Queen of Sheba believed in its healing powers, and Egypt’s Cleopatra built a spa on its shores.
Lack of cooperation and the small size of the companies in the sector are the major problems of the industry, said Yarub Qudah, head of the state-owned Jordan Enterprise Development Corp.
“Their capabilities are limited. One of the solutions is systemized cooperation between the companies and the establishment of a consortium for exports,” he said.
“If the companies work properly, exports could reach 100 to 120 million dollars annually in five years,” he said, adding that if a plan to transform Dead Sea products into clinical products bears fruit, prices could jump “four or five times.”
Poor quality output by some firms has also been to blame, giving Jordanian products a bad name, the owners of some of the largest companies said.
Both Israel and Jordan are exploiting the Dead Sea tourist trade, with luxury hotels on either shore.
Both have also set up massive evaporation pools that harvest Dead Sea minerals like potash, or potassium carbonate, used to produce soap, glass, baking soda and fertilizers.
The Dead Sea, however, so named because virtually no life can tolerate its heavily salty waters, may be facing another kind of death — the sea’s surface level is plunging by a meter a year.
For centuries, the sea’s delicate balance was maintained by the Jordan river, its only year-round water source, but in recent decades Israel and Jordan have been diverting its waters into large irrigation projects.
The Dead Sea shoreline has receded by more than a kilometer in some places and the world-famous body of water could dry out completely by 2050, some calculations show.
POLITICAL AGENDA: Beijing’s cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival events are part of a ‘cultural united front’ aimed at promoting unification with Taiwan, academics said Local authorities in China have been inviting Taiwanese to participate in cross-strait Mid-Autumn Festival celebrations centered around ideals of “family and nation,” a move Taiwanese academics said politicizes the holiday to promote the idea of “one family” across the Taiwan Strait. Sources said that China’s Fujian Provincial Government is organizing about 20 cross-strait-themed events in cities including Quanzhou, Nanping, Sanming and Zhangzhou. In Zhangzhou, a festival scheduled for Wednesday is to showcase Minnan-language songs and budaixi (布袋戲) glove puppetry to highlight cultural similarities between Taiwan and the region. Elsewhere, Jiangsu Province is hosting more than 10 similar celebrations in Taizhou, Changzhou, Suzhou,
The Republic of China (ROC) is celebrating its 114th Double Ten National Day today, featuring military parades and a variety of performances and speeches in front of the Presidential Office in Taipei. The Taiwan Taiko Association opened the celebrations with a 100-drummer performance, including young percussionists. As per tradition, an air force Mirage 2000 fighter jet flew over the Presidential Office as a part of the performance. The Honor Guards of the ROC and its marching band also heralded in a military parade. Students from Taichung's Shin Min High School then followed with a colorful performance using floral imagery to represent Taiwan's alternate name
COGNITIVE WARFARE: Chinese fishing boats transmitting fake identification signals are meant to test Taiwan’s responses to different kinds of perceived incursions, a report said Chinese vessels are transmitting fake signals in Taiwan’s waters as a form of cognitive warfare, testing Taipei’s responses to various types of incursions, a report by the Institute for the Study of War said on Friday. Several Chinese fishing vessels transmitted fake automatic identification system (AIS) signals in Taiwan’s waters last month, with one mimicking a Russian warship and another impersonating a Chinese law enforcement vessel, the report said. Citing data from Starboard Maritime Intelligence, the report said that throughout August and last month, the Chinese fishing boat Minshiyu 06718 (閩獅漁06718) sailed through the Taiwan Strait while intermittently transmitting its own AIS
CHINESE INFILTRATION: Medical logistics is a lifeline during wartime and the reported CCP links of a major logistics company present a national security threat, an expert said The government would bolster its security check system to prevent China from infiltrating the nation’s medical cold chain, a national security official said yesterday. The official, who wished to stay anonymous, made the remarks after the Chinese-language magazine Mirror Media (鏡周刊) reported that Pharma Logistics (嘉里醫藥物流) is in charge of the medical logistics of about half of the nation’s major hospitals, including National Taiwan University Hospital and Taipei Veterans General Hospital. The company’s parent, Kerry TJ Logistics Co (嘉里大榮物流), is associated with the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA), the
RSS