Gov’t incentive bundle ‘not mere figures or plans’

AMMAN — The holistic incentives programme has been launched by the government as part of its awareness of the difficult economic conditions experienced by citizens and its responsibility to address them, Minister of State for Media Affairs Jumana Ghunaimat said on Wednesday. 

During a roundtable organised by Al al-Bayt University’s House of Wisdom Institute, Ghunaimat said that economic challenges “are an extension of the several crises that Jordan has faced over the past decade, starting with the international financial crisis and the Arab spring, all the way to the financial turmoil we are currently facing”.

“The investment incentive and economic rejuvenation bundle is the first among others which constitute a holistic government programme, and it includes decisions and measures that have already gone into effect, not just figures or plans,” the minister explained. 

“The real danger facing Jordan is the massive flow of rumours and false news, which influence our ideas, values, traditions and cohesive national fibre,”  Ghunaimat noted, pointing to the  role of “Haqqak Tiraf” (your right to know), an online platform designed to present accurate information. 

The government is in the process of drafting a national media strategy, which will be implemented over the next four years to modernise pertinent legislation and keep up with technological advancement. 

In response to a question on whether the government has sold a number of vital institutions, privatising them entirely, the minister said that the government still owns shares in most key institutions, including the Queen Alia International Airport (QAIA), the Aqaba Port, the Arab Potash Company, Royal Jordanian and the Jordan Phosphate Mines Company. 

Ghunaimat refuted claims regarding the sale of QAIA, noting that a 25-year agreement has been signed with the Airport International Group (AIG) to operate QAIA, renovate its facilities and construct a new building for passengers. 

Once the aforementioned period ends, the government will retain sole ownership of the company, Ghunaimat said. 

The minister said that the AIG has invested $1 billion in the project, noting that 57 per cent of revenues will go to the Treasury.