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AMMAN — Minister of Planning and International Cooperation and Minister of State for Economic Affairs Mohamad Al-Ississ has urged the World Bank Group (WBG) to build “genuine” partnerships with regional funds to implement development projects.

Chairing a meeting of Arab governors with the WBG President David Malpass in Washington, DC, Al-Ississ also called for expanding cooperation with the G-20 in implementing development projects with “tangible” impact on economic growth, according to a ministry statement. 

The minister also urged the WBG to help bring international investments to the Arab region, stressing the importance of Saudi Arabia’s G-20 presidency in 2020, the statement said. 

Al-Ississ underlined the WBG’s role in achieving economic development in the region, calling on Arab states to embark on implementing structural reforms and adopting comprehensive economic policies to achieve envisioned growth, create job opportunities, enhance competitiveness and reduce gender income inequality.

The minister also participated in the WBG Development Committee meeting which focused on economic transformation, sustainable development and job creation.

Participants in the meeting argued that job creation is one of the major challenges facing the MENA region, citing studies showing that unemployment rates in the region, especially among the youth, reached 26 per cent in 2018 — “the highest in the world over the past two decades”, according to the statement.  

Working papers discussed during the meeting also argued that women’s participation in the labour market in the MENA region reached 22 per cent in 2018, nearly 30 per cent lower than the global average.

Al-Ississ briefed the bank’s officials on the progress achieved in Jordan’s economic reforms, including the automation of services and governmental procedures and amendments to the investment and labour laws, the statement said.

AMMAN — Their Royal Highnesses Prince Hashim and Princess Fahdah welcomed a baby boy on Monday.

They named the newborn HRH Mohammad Al Hassan, according to a Royal Court statement.

The Royal Court congratulated Prince Hashim and Princess Fahdah on this occasion, and wished the newborn good health and prosperity under the care of his parents. 

AMMAN — Jordan is scheduled to participate in the China International Import Exhibition next month to explore export opportunities available for national products, President of the Amman Chamber of Industry (ACI) and the Jordan Chamber of Industry Fathi Jaghbir said on Tuesday.

In a joint press conference at the ACI with Chairman of the Jordan Investment Commission (JIC) Khaled Wazani and Chinese Ambassador to Jordan Pan Weifang, Jaghbir said that certain goods from chemical industries, fertilisers and Dead Sea products have “already started” entering the Chinese market, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Jordan will be hosting the 2019 Jordan-China Business Forum on October 27, Jaghbir said. He added that the trade balance between the two countries “tilts greatly” to the Chinese side, noting that while the value of Jordanian exports to China stood at $104.8 million last year, the Kingdom imported $2.77 billion worth of goods from China in 2018. 

AMMAN — A total of 15,000 narcotics cases have been detected since the beginning of 2019, involving around 22,000 users, dealers and promoters, Anti-Narcotics Department (AND) Director Brig. Gen. Anwar Tarawneh said on Tuesday.

In a roundtable organised by the Hashemite University in cooperation with the AND, Tarawneh said that the number of narcotics cases has increased by 2 per cent compared to last year, also pointing to a 14-per cent hike in the number of awareness programmes for the same period, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Tarawneh said that “no region is inaccessible to AND personnel”, highlighting the department’s “great role” in combatting illegal drugs across the Kingdom.  

AMMAN — Self-help books are common nowadays in Jordan, especially among the new generation, said a Jordanian author.

Shadi Obeidat is a pharmacist with a strong interest in the field of business psychology. In 2015 he published the book “Antigravity”, in which he proposes mindfulness to “get rid of the bad and establish successful habits”, while interspersing insights in physics, psychology and religion.

“The psychology of people will affect the workplace environment and consequently will affect the outcomes,” Obeidat said in a recent interview with The Jordan Times.

“I noticed the connectedness between these factors and realised that habits act as gravitational forces pulling us down and making us heavy psychologically,” he said.

This is how he chose the title of his theory “seeing self-development as an anti-gravitational force”, he explained.

“For example, when we have negative emotions towards someone, like anger for example, we become influenced by the gravitational forces of anger,” Obeidat noted. 

“The role of anti-gravity is to minimise these forces and stay balanced — which gives you the ability to have a clear mind and make good decisions,” he added.

Obeidat decided to write his book in English because “the English library of self-help is huge” and he saw his audience as “people who are willing to make a change and work on themselves continuously for development”, including through learning English.

AMMAN — The Agricultural Credit Corporation (ACC) has financed around 7,000 farmers with a total amount of JD40 million since the beginning of the year, ACC Director General Mohammad Hiyari said on Tuesday. 

Hiyari added that the corporation financed agricultural manufacturing and marketing projects with JD10 million, livestock development projects with JD17.5 million and land reclamation schemes with JD3.6 million, while over JD3 million has been allocated to ventures for developing water resources, modern technologies and renewable energy.

The director general said that the northern region received finances of JD15 million, the central region JD14 million and the southern region JD11 million, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

He also noted that the ACC targets projects that contribute to increasing the amount of agricultural produce, boosting competitiveness of farmers and focusing on schemes that can generate jobs for both genders, adding that the majority of these projects are small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Most of these ventures are focused on solar energy and aquaculture, mainly utilising technology and aiming to reduce energy and water consumption, so farmers can reduce costs by at least 30 per cent, which consequently increases their profits, Hiyari said.

The director general also voiced the corporation’s keenness to address poverty and unemployment, which are considered big challenges for the economy. ACC developed a project to address these issues and allocated JD7.5 million for this year, JD6.5 million of which has been directed to 1,500 jobseekers.  

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Monday attended part of a workshop held at Al Husseiniya Palace, with the participation of a number of economic, parliamentary, academic and media figures.

The King stressed the need for serious, collective efforts to reach implementable solutions to current economic conditions and forge ahead with programmes to stimulate economic growth and improve the standard of living in a timely manner, according to a Royal Court statement.

The workshop, held within the framework of several other workshops to come, is intended to step up coordination with economic, financial, academic, and business sectors to devise a joint actionable programme that aims to stimulate the national economy and improve Jordanians’ living conditions, the statement said.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State Rajai Muasher and the chairpersons of the finance committees in the Senate and the House of Representatives attended the workshop.

TOKYO — HRH Crown Prince Hussein met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday in Tokyo, to discuss means of bolstering the strategic partnership between the two countries and expanding cooperation in various fields.

The Crown Prince conveyed His Majesty King Abdullah’s greetings to Prime Minister Abe and wishes for further progress and prosperity to the people of Japan, according to a Royal Court statement.

His Royal Highness affirmed his pride in the deep-rooted Jordanian-Japanese ties and the distinguished relations between the Imperial and Royal families.

The Crown Prince expressed appreciation for Japan’s continued support to development projects in Jordan, as well its efforts to achieve peace and stability in the Middle East, the statement said.

Prince Hussein is in Japan deputising for His Majesty at the enthronement ceremony of Emperor Naruhito, to be held on Tuesday.

Jordan’s Ambassador to Japan Lina Annab and a number of senior Japanese officials attended the meeting.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Monday received the former president of Kosovo, Atifete Jahjaga, at Al Husseiniya Palace.

Jahjaga is on a visit to the Kingdom to participate in a workshop held by the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs in Amman, according to a Royal Court statement.

The meeting was attended by HRH Prince Ghazi, His Majesty’s Chief Adviser for Religious and Cultural Affairs and personal envoy, and Adviser to His Majesty for Communication and Coordination Bisher Al Khasawneh. 

AMMAN — The Ministry of Health and the American Heart Association (AHA) on Monday signed a three-year joint cooperation agreement to train medical and nursing staff, and to support the medical professionals in emergency cardiovascular care at the Health Ministry, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Health Minister Saad Jaber said the agreement also aims to train healthcare personnel according to global standards adopted for resuscitation, Petra reported.

The ministry seeks to implement a training plan that includes ambulance and emergency departments, intensive care and central departments at ministry hospitals across the Kingdom in 2019 and 2020 to improve the quality of healthcare provided to citizens through joint cooperation with the Health Ministry’s centre for life support, which is affiliated with the AHA.