Ammon News -

Members of the government's economic team headed by Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and Minister of State for Public Sector Modernization Nasser Shraideh, met with the Chief Economist of the World Bank Group, Indermit Gill and his accompanying delegation.

Shraideh stressed during the meeting held at the Prime Minister's office on Thursday evening that the World Bank is a major partner for Jordan, pointing out that this partnership has resulted in the implementation of many development goals in Jordan.

He pointed out that Jordan has gone through difficult economic challenges during the past years, but its national economy has moved towards achieving recovery from the crises it has been exposed to.

Shraideh explained that the Kingdom achieved a growth rate in the gross domestic product in 2022, which amounted to 2.7%, compared to 1.9% in 2022.

Jordan was open to new and pioneering ideas and initiatives, especially in the sectors of education, health and social protection, pointing out that there are challenges the Kingdom is witnessing, the most prominent of which are poverty and unemployment, Shraideh indicated.

Economic Modernization Vision

Shraideh said that His Majesty King Abdullah II launched, during the past year, an ambitious vision for the future, which is the economic modernization Vision 2022-2033, which aims to improve the competitiveness of the Jordanian economy.

In turn, Gill, said: "The world today is facing great and successive challenges such as the repercussions of the Corona pandemic, the Russian-Ukrainian war, and high global interest rates, which is reflected in the increase in inflation rates globally.

Gill indicated that growth rates will rise at a lower rate than they achieved during the previous ten years, even if the countries of the world overcome the economic challenges and crises they are currently going through, stressing the importance of Jordan looking at the upcoming challenges, especially the low rate of women's participation in the economy, praising Jordan's progress according to the Bank's assessment "with a score of 29, in the 2020 Ease of Doing Business report."

Women's participation in economic life

During the meeting, the members of the economic team indicated that Jordan, in order to enhance women's participation in the labor market, launched the strategy for empowering women in the vision of economic modernization at the end of last year, which seeks to double the percentage of female participation in the labor market and for women's economic participation to reach 28% in 2033.

Digital transformation strategy

Members of the economic team presented the government's plans and procedures in many vital sectors, including the national strategy for digital transformation, which aims to reach the digitization of all services provided to citizens by the year.

Modernization of the public sector - Sector of work, industry and trade

The team members referred to the draft unified strategy for vocational training and technical education that the government is preparing, in addition to creating an enabling and stimulating environment for the textile and apparel sectors, improving the productivity and competitiveness of the pharmaceutical industry, and amending the e-commerce law.

In the industrial sector, they stressed that the government is in the process of preparing a national strategy to increase the growth of national exports of goods and services and diversify Jordanian exports, especially since Jordan's exports to the Arab trade zone amounted to JD2.5 billion, according to the figures of the Department of Statistics.

Investment stimulation

The members said that the investment environment law of 2022 and the system approved by the government is a modern law that came to consolidate the Kingdom's position as an attractive center for investors, in an equal way between the local and foreign investors.

Executive program of Economic Modernization Vision

The team members reviewed the most prominent features of the executive program for the economic modernization vision for the years 2025-2023, which was approved by the government at the end of 2022.

Green Economy

The team members pointed to the efforts made by Jordan in the transition towards a green economy and consistent climate action in line with the initiatives emanating from the vision of economic modernization.

Fiscal and monetary policies

In terms of fiscal and monetary policies, members of the economic team referred to the measures taken by the government to ensure financial and monetary stability, and to achieve a balance between monetary stability and growth, especially in light of difficult economic conditions globally.

At the end of the meeting, the World Bank delegation expressed their admiration for the multiplicity and complementarity of government programs and initiatives, stressing the importance of a monitoring and evaluation mechanism in order to measure its impact on the economy.