Dr. Hamad Kasasbeh

The funds sent by Jordanians abroad are among the most important resources entering the national economy each year, approaching nearly USD 4.5 billion annually. This figure should not be viewed only as family support that helps households cover education, housing, and healthcare expenses. It should also be seen as an economic resource with broader potential if Jordan succeeds in organizing part of it more effectively. The real question is no longer how much money flows into the Kingdom from abroad, but how a limited and voluntary portion of this resource can be transformed into productive investment that creates jobs and supports growth.

This does not diminish the social role of these funds. That role remains essential. Jordanians abroad are already present in the economy through direct family support, real estate purchases, home construction, and the stimulation of local demand. Yet this presence has largely remained individual and unorganized. A significant share of the money entering the country goes to consumption or traditional savings. These are natural uses, but they do not always turn into sustainable production.

The idea is not to ask Jordanians abroad to send more money, nor to divert their family support into projects they do not know. Rather, it is to create a practical and trusted mechanism that allows those who wish to direct a limited portion of their savings toward clear productive sectors. Such a mechanism would provide them with a defined return while helping create jobs inside Jordan. In this sense, this resource becomes a channel for organized investment, not merely a financial flow whose impact ends at consumption.

This proposal is not disconnected from previous attempts to engage Jordanians abroad. Conferences and initiatives have been held to strengthen their connection with the homeland, encourage investment, and introduce available opportunities. However, the real challenge is not only to hold meetings or issue recommendations, but to turn these ties into a permanent and clear mechanism that receives a limited and voluntary share of expatriates’ savings and directs it toward measurable productive projects, with announced returns, independent oversight, and trackable results.

Such a mechanism could take the form of a national organized channel, such as an investment portfolio or a productive deposit, operating with transparency and clear supervision. It should not be directed toward broad slogans or vague projects, but toward sectors where Jordan has real growth potential, such as food manufacturing, smart agriculture, solar energy, rural tourism, and digital services. The aim is not merely to collect money, but to direct it toward clear economic activity where participants understand the location, expected return, and impact on employment and development.

For the idea to have real impact, it should be linked to the governorates rather than remaining concentrated in the capital. Each governorate has a different area of potential growth: one may be suitable for food manufacturing, another for tourism, and a third for agriculture or small industries. Jordanians living abroad can contribute to the development of their governorates or local communities, but through well-studied options rather than unorganized individual decisions. Attachment to the homeland alone does not build an economy, but it can become productive energy when connected to feasibility studies, organized financing, and real follow-up.

This direction is not new internationally. Many countries have used financial instruments aimed at their citizens abroad, such as bonds and special deposits, to attract part of diaspora savings and direct them toward financing, development, and local investment. The most important lesson from these experiences is that inviting expatriates to contribute is not enough. Success requires trust, transparency, easy procedures, and a clear entity that manages the mechanism and announces its results.

In practical terms, the idea could begin through a unified digital window that presents ready and well-studied opportunities, not general slogans or vague promises. This window would show the contribution size, expected return, number of jobs, project location, potential risks, and supervising entity. A simple model can be imagined: a Jordanian abroad places a limited amount in a food project in his or her governorate, the bank adds financing, the state provides a partial guarantee, and the window displays project progress and achieved results. In this case, the support is no longer just money reaching a household; it becomes an economic activity whose impact can be measured.

However, the success of this model does not depend on enthusiasm alone, but on governance and risk management. Investment in productive activities may involve project failure, weak returns, or poor project selection. Therefore, it should not be marketed as a guaranteed option, but as an organized and transparent path that explains risks before returns. For this reason, it should be led by an independent body with a clear legal framework, including representatives from the Central Bank, the Ministry of Investment, banks, the private sector, and independent experts, with the state acting as a regulator and guarantor of the general framework rather than as a direct manager of implementation.

In the end, the funds of Jordanians abroad are not merely numbers entering bank accounts. They are an economic energy that can be better organized. If Jordan can turn a limited and voluntary portion of this resource into productive activity, within clear financial mechanisms and a trusted digital window, the impact on employment and development in the governorates could be significant. The real question then becomes: how can this continuous resource become a source of wider opportunities and a stronger economy?