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Ammon News - AMMONNEWS - Prime Minister, Hani Mulki, Thursday stressed that Jordan is taking steady, confident and progressive steps towards growing its economy to more open integrated in regional and global value chains, and to eventually absorb the growing influx of young Jordanians into the workforce and manage the continuing challenges of the refugee crises in the country.

In a speech delivered at the 2nd day of the 27th Annual Meeting and Business Forum of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), held currently at the King Hussein Convention Centre at the Dead Sea shores, Mulki said that Jordan has become increasingly a focal point for trade and investment within the Middle East and North Africa Region.

In today's session held to discuss investments opportunities in Jordan, the Prime Minister explained that trade and investment opportunities in Jordan are rich, adding the country is also an ideal platform for those businesses seeking to pursue infrastructure and reconstruction projects in neighboring counties and the region.

"Our strategy capitalizes on our extensive network of free trade agreements. Jordanian Products have succeeded to enter international markets such as the U.S., Europe and Africa," he said.

Creating a conducive pro-business environment, requires continuous reforms, improvements and removing existing or potential impediments, he said adding that "We recognize that creating the adequate ecosystem is a key factor to position our country as a destination for foreign investments".

All this was reflected by the latest improvement in Jordan's ranking at the ease of doing business indicator (2018) jumping 15 places from last year, and we expect the improvements to continue, the Prime Minster said.

In 2017, the Kingdom witnessed an increase of 7.2 % in the foreign investments inflow, which will ultimately benefit economic growth rates.

Mulki thanked the EBRD for its continuous and strong support to the economic and social development of the Kingdom, being a major player in the investment scene in Jordan over the past five years, particularly in the renewable energy and infrastructure sectors.

The EBRD supported our economy to adapt well in the face of adversity and resilience, which is vital in these turbulent times, and we aspire to achieve more with the bank in the upcoming years, Mulki added.

"Over the past two years, the government of Jordan has embarked on introducing significant reforms to the economic legislation framework: a number of new and amended laws and bylaws have been enacted including the Secured Lending Law, Bankruptcy & Insolvency Law, the Medical and Health Accountability Law and many others that have been awaited for years," he explained.

Schemes are in place for the way forward: The Jordan 2025: our vision and national strategy presents our long-term socio-economic development blueprint. Based on this, he added, our Economic Growth Plan 2018- 2022 focuses on unlocking the growth potential and creating an enabling ecosystem that stimulates, unleashes, and invests the energy and innovation potential of our citizens to realize their maximum aspirations.

This cannot happen without the full partnership between Government and the private sector to achieve these goals, he further stressed .

"We in Jordan are well aware that human capital is our main asset, and continued quality investment in the human capital development is an absolute necessity, and the empowerment of women and youth is at the heart of this development", he added.

The Prime Minster highlighted that Jordanian population is young and talented; year after year, the country is witnessing success stories, scalable from small businesses to regional leaders and role models to inspire future generations of entrepreneurs.

Jordan became a member in the EBRD in 2011, he noted, adding that at the time we had high hopes but were not sure what to expect. Since, EBRD investments in the Kingdom have grown to reach €1 bn.