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Ammon News -

The Lower House , during a session headed by Speaker Abdul Karim Dughmi, and in the presence of the Cabinet's members, continued deliberations to endorse the draft law regulating the investment environment for 2022.

The deputies approved a number of the bill's articles, after "extensive" debate, as referred by the House's Economy and Investment Committee.

The lawmakers approved Article 15 as sent from the government, to delete and replace the phrase "300 Jordanians" by "250 Jordanians".

The new version now reads: "If the legislative or regulatory clauses are amended or altered and the outcome would have a negative impact on the investor, who has investments in a single project amounting to JD5 million or more, or who has employed 250 Jordanians or more, then he/she has the right to demand deferring implementation of these articles for a 7-year period from the date of fulfilling any of these two conditions."

The House also approved Articles 16 and 17, which grant the investor, his family and his high-profile employees an "investor identification card" to facilitate investor procedures at the official authorities and facilitate their entry and exit to and from the Kingdom.

In addition, the deputies approved Article 18, which establishes the development zone by a Cabinet decision upon the recommendation of Minister of Investment. The zone's borders are set, modified or canceled by a gov't decision, while preserving the acquired rights.

In a related item, the House okayed Article 19, which details the mechanism of transferring land ownership of a development zone from the public Treasury to the Ministry of Investment, which has authority to sell or lease lots to the main developer according to development agreement approved by the Cabinet under the specified financial leasing conditions.

Speaking at the session, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Local Administration, Tawfiq Krishan, said there is no sale of state lands, but rather a sale to the developer, which is government companies.

In response to the lawmakers' interventions, he noted the government defends its laws, but the draft law regulating the investment environment is now debated by the Parliament.