Author(s): Qtaishat, T., El-Habbab, M.S., Bumblauskas, D.P., & Tabieh, M.
It is important to determine the agricultural sectors with export potential base on the analysis of current export flows. The concept of competitive advantage is in the heart of theory of international trade. This article analyzes the competitiveness and overall economic trade activities taking tomatoes as case study in Jordan. The main objective of this study is to determine to what extent Jordan’s specialized commodity export of tomato impacts markets and the growth or decline of its world export market share. Tomatoes are considered the primary vegetable crop in Jordan with respect to area and production capacity. Moreover, Jordan exported about 52% of the produced tomatoes as an average of the period 2001-2018. The sustainable production of tomatoes in Jordan is a key economic consideration for the country. Several comparative advantage and competitiveness indicators were used in this research, including: Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA), Trade Competitiveness Index (TCI), The export elasticity of substitution (σ), Constant Market Share (CMS), and Trade Entropy Index (TEI). The results showed that Jordanian tomatoes have a competitive trade advantage.