International Trade committee  It's 8 o'clock in the evening.

International Trade committee  It is my pleasure.

International Trade committee  Thank you. First of all, the NLC report was false from the beginning. What happened in December was a false report by the newspaper that withdrew it. There was no strike. We haven't had a strike. Therefore, I believe it's wrong to ask, “Will you stop this from reoccurring?” Not

International Trade committee  I can give assurance to the lady that we, as an international group, respect human rights in every way. We signed the UN charter on that.

International Trade committee  Yes, NLC did terrible—

International Trade committee  Nothing has reoccurred.

International Trade committee  And the improvements are continuing.

International Trade committee  I'd be very happy to personally meet anyone and show them around, because we're very proud of what we have in Jordan.

International Trade committee  Could I just comment on that?

International Trade committee  Nygård has four to five people in the IBG factory at any one time. And IBG has been on the golden list for the last four years.

International Trade committee  Yes, I can confirm that. I'm very much aware of them. Should I make a comment on that?

International Trade committee  It almost looks that way, doesn't it? We were particularly incensed over this. There was an American, New York-based or Washington-based, who went and wrote a report that started all this. Nobody ever visited the factory. The Jordanian government was particularly upset with them.

International Trade committee  I would say two things. The improvements were started when we bought the factories, because we were not satisfied with the conditions. They were an ongoing business, so the improvements were under way, and the media attention did not change any of our policies or our emphasis. Wh

International Trade committee  I'm all for free trade agreements. Until two years ago I was living in India and was chairman of the European business group. We advocated for many years for a free trade agreement with India. So I'm a great believer in them. Jordan is a stabilizing country in the Middle East, i

International Trade committee  The apparel industry is good, and a free trade agreement would definitely help it. The head of your Apparel Federation, Mr. Bob Kirke, was all in favour of it.