"Ikea to provide jobs for Syrian refugees in new Jordanian project", 31 Jan 2017

Ikea is to provide jobs for hundreds of Syrian refugees in Jordan, making it one of the first multinationals to support an initiative to provide jobs to people displaced by Syria’s civil war...Jesper Brodin, range and supply manager at Ikea, said that the Swedish retail group was looking at developing hand-woven rugs, textiles, baskets, and other decorative items in Jordan for the local market and export. Ikea said it would focus at first on selling products to other Middle Eastern countries with which Jordan already has free-trade agreements, especially as initial production would be small scale. However, the company said it might at a later date consider selling to other countries, including in the EU...Last year, as part of the refugee deal, the EU simplified its rules of origin regulation, making it easier to export goods to the bloc if they have a “made in Jordan label”.Ikea is running the Jordan project through its “Social Entrepreneurs Initiative”...[It] would probably start by employing 200 people [and] take the company 18 to 24 months to bring products to market