Planning minister highlights role of administrative modernisation programme

AMMAN — Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Nasser Shraideh on Saturday participated in a panel discussion, under the theme "Challenges of Public Sector Reform", which was organised by the Jordan Transparency Society at the Amman Chamber of Industry.

During his participation, Shraideh stressed that the administrative modernisation programme comes as part of the comprehensive vision of His Majesty King Abdullah to materialise modernisation in all fields, according to a Planning Ministry statement.

He added that the programme aims to bolster the public sector, raise the efficiency of public administration and restore its excellence, and improve services provided to the public.

The roadmap of the 10-year economic modernisationprogramme is "flexible and open to criticism and rectification" in service of public interest, he said, adding that it will include public decision-making through establishing  partnerships with research centres and academic institutions. 

Also during the panel discussion, with the participation of Senate member Mazen Saket and MP Bilal Momani, Shraidehsaid that the modernisation programme is “flexible” and subject to criticism and correction according to the interest of public by involving citizens in decision-making by developing partnerships with centres, scientific, research and academic institutions, to contribute to measuring the impact in each sector.

A ministerial committee was formed to follow up on the 2022-2025 executive programme for public sector modernisation, in addition to 22 sectoral teams to prepare the 2023-2025 executive programme, including the adoption of a participatory approach involving a variety of stakeholders.

The minister said that performance will be assessed through “clear and measurable indicators with target national goals”.

Public sector modernisation plans seek to reformulate the role of the public sector, empower the private sector by digitisingall government services by 2025, refine the digital skills of employees to support the digital transformation, render the government more agile, and reduce the number of overlapping government institutions, he said. 

The abolition of a number of ministries does not entail the abolition of laws affiliated with them, he said.

He added that the Public Sector Modernisation Committee recommended removing intersections among ministries and government institutions. 

He noted that according to the committee’s recommendations, handling issues of expatriates in the Kingdom would be entrusted to the Ministry of the Interior.

Similarly, regulating the labour market would be assigned to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply, he noted, adding that professional training duties would be transferred to the private sector. 

The Ministry of Education and Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research will be merged, focusing on vocational and technical education, he said.

Reviewing the public sector modernisation roadmap, which focuses on seven components, he highlighted the necessity of its implementation within the next decade, stressing that administrative modernisation is a fundamental pillar of the Economic Modernisation Vision.

Highlighting poverty and unemployment as key challenges, he said that administrative modernisation will inevitably reflect positively on economic modernisation and the creation of an effective and “flexible” public sector.

Senator Mazen Saket stressed that administrative modernisation requires solemnity, follow-up, accountability, and public trust. 

MP Bilal Momani said that administrative modernisation is a societal reform that must be inclusive of all parties, stressing the need to review educational outcomes and their compatibility with the needs of the labour market. 

In his opening speech, Chairman of the Amman Chamber of Industry Fathi Jaghbir focused on the importance of administrative modernisation, development of the public sector and abolition of the Ministry of Labour.