You are here

Sustainable projects need to stay even when officials change — minister

Public Sector Development minister stresses importance of partnership between public, private sector to empower investors

By Renad Aljadid - Aug 30,2018 - Last updated at Aug 30,2018

AMMAN — Only influential leaders can make a real change by drawing up empowering policies that facilitate public measures instead of making them more complicated, Minister of Public Sector Development Majd Shweikeh said on Tuesday. 

In a seminar organised by the Taqaddam platform, Shweikeh stressed the importance of the government leadership programme implemented by the ministry in cooperation with the USAID, to provide a pool of qualified government leaders to bring about change and development, especially at the level of government services provided to citizens as well as to stimulate economic growth in different sectors.

“It was noticed that registering a business requires applicants to pass by 13 different institutions before they can start,” the minister noted, adding that 50 trainees will receive an 18-month-long training after which they will start drawing up policies that facilitate the process of starting up a business in Jordan.

She pointed out that the 50 trainees were selected from government institutions and departments related to the service of economic activity registration, adding that the selection process followed a “transparent, scientific and non-traditional mechanism” based on application submission by the candidates of the supervisory and leadership category. These applications were then reviewed by a neutral committee and the applicants were subjected to examinations and interviews.

Shweikeh also spoke of the significance of the partnership between the public and private sector, stating that “one hand cannot clap”.

An attendee, who introduced himself as an investor in tourism, criticised the “continuously changing dues”, including fuel and electricity tariffs, which he described as a “sudden blow” to the investors.

For the discussion moderator, Laith Al Qasem, there remains a gap between the laws and those who apply the law. “The current investment laws are supposed to be implemented to help the investors, not make things more complicated,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, Shweikeh highlighted the importance of “institutionalisation”, whereby projects and plans do not go if officials change, stressing the importance of sustaining efforts and measuring their effect. 

She added that the government has been exerting great efforts towards decentralisation and the restructuring of the government body so as to enhance its performance.

In a previous interview with The Jordan Times, economist Mazen Irsheid  said: “Jordan’s large number of public sector employees ranks it amongst the top 10 countries on the rates of public sector employment, which only contribute to flabby and bureaucratic governmental body.”

“Several institutions and ministries can be merged together so as to reduce operational costs, which can then be invested in productive projects and in supporting the private sector,” he said.

Asked about the economist’s comment, the minister said that the number of public sector employees is 212,000, which is 2.2 per cent of the total population, while the benchmark is 1.8 per cent, noting that, within the next four years, this same number will not be high considering Jordan’s population growth rate.

However, she said that achieving a “slim government” can be an important aspect of the partnership with the public sector, as some services, mainly logistics, can be outsourced to the private sector instead of increasing the number of government employees.

up
82 users have voted.


Newsletter

Get top stories and blog posts emailed to you each day.

PDF