Day: November 17, 2021

His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II on Wednesday attended the launch of “Jordan Source”, which seeks to promote regional and international investments in business process outsourcing and IT outsourcing in the Kingdom.

In remarks at the webinar held to launch “Jordan Source”, attended by over 200 participants from around the world and representatives of local and global companies that operate in Jordan in the fields of BPO and ITO, Crown Prince Al Hussein said “Jordan Source” is a new resource to make it even easier for investors to tap into Jordan’s qualified IT workforce.

His Royal Highness said the Kingdom boasts a dynamic entrepreneurial and start-up culture, noting that Jordan’s quality talent delivers a well-educated, bilingual, and tech-savvy workforce, all of which have encouraged major multinational ICT companies to invest in the Kingdom.

Jordan’s tech talents have an outsized impact, extending far beyond the country’s borders, the Crown Prince stressed, adding that 27 percent of the Middle East and North Africa’s tech entrepreneurs are Jordanian, although Jordan’s population accounts for only 3 percent of the region.

His Royal Highness called for benefiting from Jordan’s strategic location at the crossroads of Asia and Europe, with free trade agreements that offer access to 1.5 billion customers in 161 countries.

Speaking at the webinar, Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship Ahmad Hanandeh said Jordan’s ICT sector has great growth potential, offering highly skilled human resources, as well as the supporting infrastructure, legislation, and incentives.

The minister highlighted the incentive plan offered through “Jordan Source”, outlining why Jordan counts as a major BPO and ITO destination.

For his part, World Bank Vice President for Middle East and North Africa Ferid Belhaj noted the competitive advantages that Jordan enjoys, positioning it as a potential regional IT hub.

Belhaj said the Kingdom offers a highly educated and skilled workforce, as well as an entrepreneurship ecosystem that has developed over the past decade.

He stressed the World Bank Group’s commitment to supporting Jordan in implementing reforms that enhance investors’ experience and support the growth and holistic expansion of outsourcing services outside Amman.

“Jordan Source” falls under the umbrella of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship’s Youth, Technology, and Jobs project, financed by the World Bank Group, and seeks to capitalise on Jordan’s ICT strengths.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Investment Minister Khairy Amro on Wednesday said the ministry seeks in the next stage to increase partnership and cooperation with the private sector, due to its “important” role in Jordan’s economic development process.

Speaking at a meeting with a delegation of Palestinian businesspeople in Jordan and head and members of the Palestinian Businessmen Forum (PBF) in city of Hebron, Amro said the “ministry’s doors will remain open to all investors.”

Amro lauded the Jordanian-Palestinian relations as “deep-rooted and historic” and receive His Majesty King Abdullah II’s attention, stressing that the ministry will provide all support to Palestinian investments and will work to overcome any related challenges.

These meetings will be held on a “continuous” basis to follow up on any requests submitted by investors, he said, stressing the ministry’s readiness to provide facilitations to encourage Palestinian businesspeople to direct their investments to Jordan.

Head of the Palestinian Businessmen Forum in Hebron, Amer Osaili, stressed the importance of enhancing Jordanian-Palestinian economic and trade relations, promoting joint investment opportunities and marketing their products mutually.

Osaili stressed the importance of finding solutions to challenges facing the Palestinian investor in Jordan and helping the flow of more Palestinian investments to the Kingdom.

For his part, Head of Jordanian-Palestinian Business Forum (JPBF) Nazmi Atma stressed the importance of increasing joint trade exchange and highlighed the need to increase cooperation between the Jordanian and Palestinian private sectors.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Deputizing for His Majesty King Abdullah II, Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply, Youssef Shamali, on Wednesday inaugurated Jordan Industries Exhibition at Amman International Motor Show (AIMS) venues.

The event saw the participation of President of Amman and Jordan Chambers of Industry, Fathi Jaghbir, a number of industrialists and industrial companies, according to a trade ministry statement.

Addressing the industrial audience, Shamali conveyed the King’s greetings to the exhibition organizers and participants and His Majesty’s wishes for further progress and success to the national industry.

The minister noted the government is working “continuously” to support and enhance the industrial sector’s competitiveness, address its hardships, and strengthen partnership with Jordan’s private sector.

During his tour in the exhibition pavilions, Shamali expressed his pride in the national industry’s level, its entry to a “large” number of markets, and its “remarkable” contribution to the national economy and job creation.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Secretary-General of the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation Marwan Refai Wednesday met with representatives of international donors, embassies and international financial institutions to discuss the revised Matrix of Economic Reforms.

In a press statement, the ministry said that the meeting aims at presenting the revised Reform Matrix, launched at the 2019 Jordan Growth and Opportunity: The London Initiative, to representatives from the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and other donors as well as embassies.

Over the past few months, the ministry’s Economic Reform Implementation Support Unit (ERISU) has made revisions to the Reform Matrix following consultations with the public and private sectors. The unit introduced the tourism sector into the matrix and shed light on other vital areas of relevance such as the agriculture and water sectors, as well as enhancing public sector efficiency and governance.

Stakeholders were briefed on the reforms carried out in the economic and financial areas as part of the 2018-2024 Economic Reforms Matrix, in addition to other reforms currently underway and its connection to the government’s economic priorities program, the statement added.

Refai commended the donors’ support, through the Reform Support Fund, to implement several proposed reforms in the matrix. “The Reform Matrix is more important now than ever,” said Refai, “not only because of the COVID-19 fallout, but also because the matrix sets the general framework for the government’s strategic trends, such as the Indicative Executive Plan and the recently announced Economic Priorities Program.”

The Economic Reform Matrix has become the key reference for many international and bilateral agreements and financing programs with entities like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, he added.

A set of the most important reforms that have been implemented since 2018 were also presented at the meeting, including the newly-introduced Public-Private Sector partnership law and its bylaws and the Government Units Budgets Law 2021.

Additionally, other reforms included adopting and implementing the ISIC4 classification framework, issuance of the nursery licensing bylaw in 2019 followed by the issuance of Home-based childcare licensing instruction in 2021, endorsing and launching the National Social Protection Strategy (2019-2025), establishment of the Tourism Resilience Fund, approval of integrated National Intelligent Transport System, launch of energy storage and e-mobility assessments, continued implementation of energy efficiency and renewable energy water optimization projects and the launch of Food Security Strategy.

Following multiple high-key meetings on climate change this year, the meeting also tackled how the unit mainstreamed and integrated the climate change and environment aspect in the reform matrix to prop up Jordan’s efforts in the shift to a green economy and support the government in attracting climate finance.

According to the statement, the five-year Reform Matrix aims at achieving macroeconomic stability, public sector efficiency and governance, improving the business environment and competitiveness of the private sector, increasing exports and the flow of foreign direct investment, facilitating access to funding, raising the efficiency of the labor market and increasing its flexibility, improving and expanding the social safety net. The matrix also subsumes four areas that focus on policy reform in the transport, energy, water, agriculture and tourism sectors.

The Economic Reform Implementation Support Unit was established in late 2019 to oversee the implementation of the Reform Matrix and provide the necessary technical assistance to government entities to facilitate the implementation of the reforms. Also, the unit reaches out to and consults with relevant stakeholders on a regular basis to prioritize economic reforms and prepares periodic progress reports.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Price Index of Agricultural Producers inched down by 7.2 percent in the third quarter of 2021 reaching 102.4 points compared with 110.4 points during the same period of 2020, according to a monthly report issued Wednesday by the Department of Statistics (DoS).

The report showed that the Agricultural Producers’ Prices Index for September of this year picked up by 0.8% reaching 102.5 points compared with 101.7 points during the same month of last year.

On a monthly level, the Price Index of Agricultural Producers in September of 2021 rose by 18.6% reaching the 102.5 points compared to 86.5 during August of this year.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Omani ambassador in Amman Hilal bin Marhoon bin Salem Al-Maamari affirmed on Wednesday that relations between Oman and Jordan in the next stage will focus on the economic aspect, especially in light of the Oman vision 2040, noting that wider scopes of investment and economic cooperation will be built between the two countries.

Speaking to the Jordan News Agency (Petra) on the occasion of Oman’s National Day, the ambassador indicated that a number of memoranda of understanding (MoUs) are ready to be signed between both countries, but the signings were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, stressing the importance of these MoUs in enhancing joint collaboration in many fields.

“Land route between the Saudi Arabia and Oman is expected to open during the upcoming period,” the envoy forecast, noting that such road will facilitate movement between Jordan, Oman and the Saudi Arabia. He also pointed out that about 15,000 Jordanians are working in Oman.

Commenting on the educational cooperation, Al-Maamari indicated that more than 2,000 Omani students have enrolled in Jordanian universities this year due to the high caliber of Jordan academic institutions.

Talking about bilateral relations, the envoy stressed that Oman and Jordan maintain deep-rooted and robust ties thanks to the friendship between the two countries’ leaders. He also pointed to the ongoing coordination and consultation between Jordan and Oman regarding joint positions on issues of common concern to serve Arab issues, foremost of which is the Palestinian cause.

Turning to the Palestinian issue, the ambassador underscored Oman full solidarity with Palestinians in their right to establish an independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The envoy also underlined the role of the Oman Charitable Organization in the Kingdom and Palestine through building some health and educational facilities and helping refugees and the needy people in the two countries. He also stressed that Jordan is considered an attractive medical tourism destination for Omani tourists.

Source: Jordan News Agency