TAG- Knowledge Forum Hosts Planning minister Fakhouri

AMMAN- Talal Abu Ghazaleh Knowledge Forum hosted H.E. Eng. Emad Fakhouri, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, in a discussion session addressing the repercussions of the regional crises on the Jordanian economy and ways to tackle them.

H.E. Dr. Abu Ghazaleh welcomed Engineer Fakhouri and extended his gratitude to him for attending the discussion session which is consistent with the Forum’s goals in providing the community with a basic platform for dialogue, diagnosis, research, study and continuous evaluation of all aspects of economy and business at the local, regional and international levels. Dr. Abu Ghazaleh also commended the Minister for the various and important roles he has held in serving the country.

Dr. Abu Ghazaleh explained that the activities of the Forum aim to support business and to assist citizens with their various concerns for securing a distinguished and secure future and maintaining communication between the decision-makers and all segments of society.

H.E. Fakhouri thanked Dr. Talal Abu Ghazaleh for granting him the opportunity through Talal Abu Ghazaleh Knowledge Forum to communicate and address the most important repercussions of the regional crises and the measures taken to tackle them and mitigate their negative impact on the Jordanian economy.

He explained that the regional crises, in particular the “Arab Spring" have had a negative impact on the Jordanian economy. The Arab Spring led to the rise in international oil prices and the interruption of Egyptian gas supplies which had a severe impact on Jordan as 97% of its energy requirements relied on importation. The crises were also responsible for the large influx of Syrian refugees into Jordanian territory.

Fakhouri pointed out that the number of refugees has increased from 1.3 million to nearly 1.4 million as a result of  the rising birth rate among the refugee population, adding that the annual cost of hosting Syrian refugees totals to nearly $ 2 billion (which represents 5% of GDP and 20% of domestic revenue) making the cost of the Syrian crisis on the Kingdom since its eruption and until 2017 about 10.3 billion US dollars, equivalent to about 14% of the budget.

He addressed the results of the study conducted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) to measure the indirect impacts of the Syrian crisis on the Jordanian economy. The study suggested that the indirect impact amounts to about US $ 3.1 billion (excluding capital expenditure). This means that the indirect impact per each refugee ranges from US $ 3,000 to US $ 3,400.

He pointed out that Jordan has taken many measures and plans to address these challenges, the latest of which is Jordan Document 2025 which was prepared in response to the directives of His Majesty King Abdullah II Ibn Al Hussein to the government, indicating that citizens, as well as the government have borne the burden of the refugee crisis. The Document was prepared to shape the path for the future and define the integrated framework that will govern economic and social policies based on providing opportunities for all.

Fakhouri affirmed that Jordan is in the process of comprehensive reform in various fields, and the government's continuous efforts are part of this framework to stimulate the business environment and provide investment-friendly environment in a manner supporting and enhancing the private sector role in managing  economic activities.

Fakhouri said that the value of soft grants and loans from major donors targeted to support small and medium-sized and entrepreneurial enterprises, particularly infant industry, reached about $ 640 million, including financing initiatives and facilities for the Central Bank of Jordan and commercial banks to enable  business operators to have access to soft finance due to the importance of such projects as a means to achieve economic growth.

He stressed that this stage of Jordan’s development  necessitates facing the challenges imposed by the local, regional and international economic and social conditions and developments, most notably the high unemployment rate which reached 18.0% in the second quarter of 2017, the high poverty rate, the budget deficit, the foreign debt, the accommodation of the refugees, and the associated pressures on basic services and infrastructure.

The principles of this Document are that the citizen is at the core of the development process as well as  an economy based on competitiveness and competition, expansion of the export base of services and products, strengthening the rule of law, equality and opportunity for all, increasing participatory decision-making, achieving financial sustainability based on sustained financial stability, increasing self-reliance and bridging the gap between the governorates and enhancing productivity and competitiveness of the Jordanian economy.

He pointed out that the government will involve the private sector in the main investment role, so that the public sector’s role will be to stimulate and facilitate the investment in light of the best standards of transparency and justice for all concerned and to provide the appropriate environment for attracting private investments in various sectors, especially water and sanitation, electricity and renewable energy generating projects, and transport projects.