Mulki meets with Investment Council

AMMAN — The role of the minister of investment affairs will ensure prompt decision making, Prime Minister Hani Mulki said on Thursday, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Chairing a meeting of the Investment Council to discuss the government’s plans to encourage investment, Mulki stressed the government’s keenness to simplify the procedures for investors and remove any administrative obstacles.

He called on the holding  of several meetings of the council to ensure following up on the procedures to stimulate investment, noting the Cabinet’s recent decision to stipulate a seven-day deadline for the concerned bodies to respond to investment applications.

According to the decision, if the bodies do not response within seven days, investment applications, including licences, will be automatically approved, Mulki said.

The prime minister said that, in order to facilitate procedures, an investor needs only one security approval to use for all procedures required for investment and residency in Jordan.

State Minister for Investment Affairs, Mohannad Shehadeh, briefed the attendees on the measures taken by the Jordan Investment Commission (JIC) to stimulate investment. 

The JIC has prepared a short-term plan to ensure ease of establishing businesses in the Kingdom, Shehadeh said, adding that JIC committees have been reduced from 23 to ten, with plans to further streamline them to eight in order to cut red tape.

The commission is currently working to reduce the number of licensing and registration procedures required for investment projects, while also reducing the registration period in development zones from five days to one, according to Shehadeh.