US Ambassador to Jordan Alice G. Wells said she’s striving to open up new international markets for American and Jordanian firms based in the Kingdom.

In a bid to encourage greater joint economic development, Wells said her government was working to expand the reach of Jordan’s private sector into markets such as Africa. “A strong and diverse private sector will be the engine of our joint prosperity, and we are committed to supporting private sector growth in both Jordan and the United States,” Wells said at last month’s AmCham’s review of 2015 meeting.

She  added that the United States was also engaging the Jordanian government and the private sector to help streamline the Kingdom’s regulatory environment, citing the World Bank’s Doing Business report which indicated other countries were moving faster than Jordan to facilitate trade and investment. Wells also called for the diversification of Jordanian products beyond the textiles that make up the majority of U.S.-bound exports.

Anchored by the 2001 Free Trade Agreement and the tariff reductions it provides, in 2014 total bilateral trade between Jordan and the United States hit an all time high of around $3.4 billion. The U.S. has also agreed to provide $1 billion annually in financial aid to Jordan between 2015 and 2017, though it was close to $1.4 billion in 2015.