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AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah participated in part of the third workshop held at Al Husseiniya Palace on Thursday, which comes within a series of extensive sessions held this week to formulate a clear economic programme with the participation of economic, parliamentary, academic and media figures.

The King stressed the need to improve the living standards of citizens in coordination with all institutions, especially the public and private sectors, in cumulative stages of implementation, according to a Royal Court statement. 

His Majesty noted the need to clarify the advantages to the public and the importance of restructuring the priorities of different sectors, the statement said.

The King emphasised the need to follow up on the outputs of the programme and to work on improving performance directly and intensively, according to the statement.

His Majesty also stressed the media’s integral role in promoting positivity and clarifying the details of the programme to the public, given its comprehensive approach.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State Rajai Muasher participated in the workshop.

AMMAN — The Foreign Ministry is following up on the health condition of Jordanian detainee in Israeli prison Heba Abdul Baqi after she was hospitalised before returning to the centre where she is being held. 

The ministry’s spokesperson Sufian Qudah said the government has requested the Israeli authorities to provide Abdul Baqi with the necessary medical care, adding that her condition is now stable.

The ministry’s spokesperson reiterated continued efforts by the ministry to ensure the release of Abdul Baqi and Abdulrahman Meri. 

Earlier this month, the Foreign Ministry summoned the Israeli Chargé d’Affaires in the Kingdom to protest against the continued detention of Abdul Baqi and Meri.

The ministry said that a letter was handed over to the Israeli envoy, demanding an immediate release of Abdul Baqi and Meri.

The ministry said that the Israeli government was asked to adhere to the international law and human rights conventions, holding the Israeli authorities accountable for the safety of the detained Jordanians. 

In September, the Foreign Ministry summoned the Israeli ambassador to Jordan and called for the immediate release of Abdul Baqi and Meri, who had been detained by Israeli authorities after crossing the King Hussein Bridge.

AMMAN — Jordan has been placed among the world's top ten improvers in implementing business-climate-improving measures in the World Bank’s 2020 business rankings.

For the first time, Jordan is classified in the annual report as among the top business climate reformers in the MENA region with three major reforms: Introducing a new secured transactions law, amending the insolvency law and launching a unified, modern and notice-based collateral registry.

"This year, the region hosts four of the world’s top 10 improvers: Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, and Kuwait. These countries account for almost half of the region’s reforms. The United Arab Emirates remained the strongest performer overall in the region, placing 16th (out of 190) on the ease of doing business rankings," according to the report.

Prime Minister Omar Razzaz hailed Jordan's ranking in the report as the "beginning of the road" to economic growth. 

In a tweet on Thursday, Razzaz said that Jordan has jumped 29 ranks in the report, placing 75th from 104th on the ease of doing business ranking in 2018.

"This advancement will have a positive impact on attracting investments and creating job opportunities," Razzaz said, adding that the government will launch a set of measures on Sunday to reduce production costs, stimulate investments and create job opportunities. 

Minister of Planning and International Cooperation and Minister of State for Economic Affairs Mohamad Al-Ississ described Jordan’s new ranking as “one of the biggest jumps in the history of the Kingdom in regards to ease of doing business”.

In a press conference on Thursday, Al-Ississ said that the annual report is of prime significance to investors and business owners and is also a testimonial document of the reforms countries can achieve in improving business climate.  

The minister said that the government will continue working on improving the business climate in Jordan and in undertaking more endeavours towards improving the economy and achieving the envisioned growth. 

“The government’s priority is to increase growth rates, create jobs and improve services,” the minister said. 

According to the report, the region’s economies collectively focused their reforms on getting electricity and protecting minority investors, with 40 per cent of the countries in the region reforming in these areas (eight reforms in each).

“Overall, the region performs the best in the areas of paying taxes, getting electricity and dealing with construction permits … Similarly, entrepreneurs in the region need to complete 16.5 payments on average to comply with their fiscal requirement, compared to 23 globally.”

According to the Doing Business report, barriers against women are still widespread in the Middle East and North Africa, with 13 of the region’s economies imposing additional procedures for female entrepreneurs to start a business.

AMMAN — The chairperson and board members of the Integrity and Anti-Corruption Commission (JIACC) were sworn in on Thursday before His Majesty King Abdullah at Al Husseiniya Palace.

Muhannad Hijazi was sworn in as chairperson of the JIACC alongside board members Sami Salaytah, Osama Mheisen, Mamoun Qatarneh and Mustafa Rawashdeh, according to a Royal Court statement.

Prime Minister Omar Razzaz and Royal Hashemite Court Chief Yousef Issawi attended the swearing-in.

Following the swearing-in, King Abdullah received a copy of the JIACC’s annual report, which details the commission’s achievements in 2018 as well as recommendations aimed at enhancing performance, the statement said.

During the meeting, His Majesty underscored the important role of the JIACC in promoting the rule of law, integrity and justice, stressing the need to continue achievements in fighting corruption.

The King also reaffirmed his support for the commission’s mandate and highlighted the importance of continued follow-up on its findings, the statement said.

For his part, Chairman Hijazi gave a briefing on the main achievements of the JIACC as detailed in its annual report.

AMMAN — The Crown Prince Foundation (CPF) and Muhafazati Volunteering Foundation (MVF) on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to support youth projects and programmes of common interest.

The MoU was signed by CPF CEO Tamam Mango and MVF Founder Abdullah Bani Hani. MVF is a non-profit organisation that aims to empower youth and foster active citizenship with volunteer and awareness-building activities, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

AMMAN — Interior Minister Salameh Hammad on Thursday decided to exempt Chinese and Indian nationals from the Interior Ministry’s prior approval to enter the Kingdom.

Chinese and Indian nationals can now be granted visas through Jordanian diplomatic missions abroad or at border crossings upon arrival, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Hammad said that the decision aims at facilitating procedures for foreign investors and stimulating tourism in a way that can enhance the economy and increase Treasury revenues.

AMMAN — The Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship in cooperation with the Jordan Central Bank are working towards a new digital payment system.

By the beginning of 2020, government payments to citizens, including National Aid Fund payments and bread subsidies, will be made through bank accounts or digital wallets to save time, according to a ministry statement.

To prevent minor violations and corruption, direct cash payments to the government institutions will be no longer accepted in the upcoming year, the statement added.

The ministry affirmed that no additional charges will be imposed on electronic payments and collection of revenues.

AMMAN — The Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) has foiled an attempt to smuggle one million Captagon pills stored in a vehicle and arrested four alleged drug traffickers involved in the case, three of whom are Arab nationals.

Upon receiving a tip-off indicating that a group of individuals were preparing to smuggle a large quantity of narcotic pills outside the Kingdom, AND personnel began an investigation to identify the suspects and secure a handover of the narcotics, a security source said.

AND personnel were able to identify several suspects, who hid the drugs in secret makeshift compartments in the vehicle, which had non-Jordanian Arab licence plates, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Thursday. 

AMMAN — During the fourth millennium BC, a new culture appeared in the southern Levant, with a “pronounced” attitude towards adapting the so-called “Mediterranean diet” based on grapes and olive tree cultivation to different ecological niches, said an Italian archaeologist.

“Shepherd nomads and farmers interact and, towards the beginning of the third millennium BC, under the influx of the Egyptian and Mesopotamian civilisations, develop a small-scale urban model suitable for the environment of this region, where resources are considerably different from those of the great rivers' [Nile, Euphrates and Tigris] urban civilisations,” noted Professor Lorenzo Nigro from Sapienza University of Rome.

This “special issue” of the urban model gave birth to several very interesting examples of pristine city-states, among which only a few have been discovered in Jordan. 

Batrawy, 25 kilometres north of Amman, was the easternmost city-state, and one of the “most flourishing” between 3000 and 2300 BC, the professor continued, adding that the basis of the economy was the production of olive oil and wool, which were exchanged over long distances, due to Batrawy’s role as a crossroad and caravan city guarding the ford across the Zarqa River and the gate to the Zarqa and Jordan valleys.

“The symbol of this urban model is the incredibly strong fortification of the city, with four progressive lines of walls and a huge bastion on the northern site protruding from the main inner wall. These structures, made of huge limestone blocks and boulders, reach an overall thickness of 20 metres and are still preserved after 5,000 years at a height of four metres,” he said.

The retrieval of copper axes from the Palace of Batrawy revealed that the city imported this metal from Wadi Faynan and possibly controlled the copper route, reaching the site of Timnah in the Sinai Peninsula, from which Egyptians also procured this metal, he explained, adding that this prompted the socio-political organisation and economy of the early city. 

The Palace of Batrawy was a huge building erected on the northernmost terrace of the site just inside the main city gate, Nigro said, adding that the structure was subdivided into different pavilions. Only eleven rooms of it have been fully excavated by the Sapienza University of Rome Expedition from 2005 to 2019. 

AMMAN — Inspired by parliamentary practices, students at the Jubilee School held their own student council elections through the framework of electoral lists on Wednesday.

In preparation for the event, the school hosted the General Director of the election monitoring programme RASED, Amer Bani Amer, a week before the elections.

“Exposing the students to a full-on democratic experience is the only way to prepare them for their future political role as voters,” the director was quoted as saying in a statement sent to The Jordan Times.

Affiliated with the King Hussein Foundation, the school is an independent, co-educational, non-governmental and non-profit, boarding secondary school, offering a four-year education programme to students with high academic ability from grades nine to 12.

“In such a school where distinguished leaders of the future are studying, this level of participation in decision-making and freedom of expression is monumental in its ability to raise these young minds,” said Khaled Kalaldeh, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners at the Independent Elections Commission (IEC), according to the statement.

In another preparatory lecture given before the elections, Kalaldeh shared his experience as a member of several medical and political committees with the students, who in turn enquired about past and present political climates in Jordan.

When the elections, monitored and organised by the IEC, took place on Wednesday, around 420 students voted, ultimately choosing seven representatives to form their student council, the statement said.

“I am very happy to see our students living a simulation of real-life political practices, as they are taking this experience very seriously. I think that this will be the gateway to effect social and political change at their hands in the future,” said Jubilee Principal Suha Jouaneh Shahin in a video sent to The Jordan Times on Wednesday.