We are racing against time to salvage economy — King

AMMAN – His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday stressed the important role of the Economic Policies Council in enhancing relations between the public and the private sectors through transparent and well-developed economic policies, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Chairing a meeting of the council at Al Husseiniya Palace, His Majesty said that the time factor “will be against us if we do not seize the available opportunities. Therefore, we have to avoid procrastination and put solutions in place without any [hidden] agendas except serving people and combating poverty and unemployment. These are the interests of the people who are concerned with issues that matter to the country". 

He stressed that he will not accept placing spokes in the wheel. 

His Majesty asserted his support to the council’s mission and the related government's endeavours.

For their part, the members of the council said it is important to help the private sector grow because that means more jobs for Jordanians, stressing that the state cannot undertake the job-creation task alone. 

They also underlined the indispensability of a participatory approach in the economic decision making and integrity between financial, monetary, investment and labour policies.

The council also stressed the necessity of enhancing the capacity of the Social Security Corporation’s Investment Fund to yield benefits to people and national economy.

Participants also discussed the negative impact of quickly changing economic legislation on investors, and that of clashing regulations, stressing the importance of the employees’ knowledge of these regulations.

They went over the challenges that face the industry and trade sectors and options available to open new markets for the Jordanian products and ways to focus on small and medium-sized entrepreneurs.

Royal Court Chief Fayez Tarawneh, Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply Jawad Anani and King’s Office Director Jafar Hassan attended the meeting.