Ammon News - AMMAN (Petra) – Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour said on Saturday that local and foreign investors' confidence in the Kingdom's investment environment should be improved and business deregulated to stimulate the nation’s economy.

He noted that Jordan has evolved into an international investment destination due to its security, stability and legislative environment, and also referred to His Majesty King Abdullah's efforts to attract foreign capital and place the country on the global investment map.

Ensour was speaking to the board of directors and executives of the Jordan Development Zones Company, Free Zones Corporation, Development Zones Commission, Jordan Industrial Estates Company, Jordan Investment Board and Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation, during a meeting attended by a number of cabinet ministers.

He also called on authorities to speed up deregulation for investors to launch businesses that would benefit the Kingdom's development process and help to alleviate poverty and unemployment, urging effective and prompt decision-making and to prevent new businesses from becoming ensnared in bureaucratic red tape.

"We won't accept the hindrance of any investment venture by red tape or correspondence among concerned departments," Ensour warned.

During the meeting, attended by the ministers of industry and trade and information and communications Technology, finance, public sector development, planning and international cooperation and tourism and antiquities, Ensour urged officials in various sectors to not hesitate to make decisions for fear of accusations of corruption.

He said all those involved should work with a sense of national responsibility to prop up the development and investment process.

"What is needed is efficacy and a new style of work and production that hinges on speedy decision-making. This spirit should be embraced by first and second-class staff members and even the lowest-ranked employees in a corporation", he urged.

Additionally, the prime minister assigned representatives of investment-related agencies to draw up a report on procedures needed to ensure symmetry between those entities' efforts that will be debated during a future meeting.