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Public-private partnership

Jul 08,2014 - Last updated at Jul 08,2014

The Lower House of Parliament has started its deliberations over the draft public-private partnership law to promote the next stage in the country’s economic development. 

At the opening session of the debate on Sunday, Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour stressed the importance of the bill, as it is “part of the economic reform scheme in the Kingdom”. 

Some deputies, however, want to restrict the participation of the private sector in a special council to ensure the bill’s implementation. 

The majority of MPs attending the session endorsed an article in the bill that denies the private sector the right to be part of the council, which will be headed by the prime minister and include the ministers of finance, trade and planning, as well as the Central Bank of Jordan governor and the director of the public-private partnership unit. 

Some deputies even objected to the participation of the chambers of commerce and industry in the proposed council, while others called for rejecting the draft law altogether, charging that the bill will become another backdoor for privatising state-owned institutions and investments.

As long as some MPs continue to view this new approach to economic development with scepticism and mistrust, the uneasy relations between the two players in the scheme could flounder. 

There is no denying that the private sector is the engine of growth in the country and engaging it is the best way to upgrade the national economy and combat unemployment and poverty. 

Most countries of the world, if not all, have counted on the private sector to solve their economic woes and hardships. 

Jordan is no different. 

If deputies continue to send wrong signals to the private sector and belittle its role in the economic development of the country, the national economy and, in due course, the people stand to suffer the most.

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