Premier urges regulatory council to address shortcomings, expedite work

AMMAN — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Monday urged the Higher Regulation Council to improve its performance and boost the national drive to attract more investments.

The council, which decides on urban regulation and land zoning matters and is affiliated with the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, looks into applications that include incoming investment projects and any delay in responding to these applications constitutes a hindrance to the entire process, he said.

During the meeting, attended by several ministers and officials, Ensour noted that Jordan is entering a new phase in its drive to attract and retain investments, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, said. 

To ensure the feasibility of efforts exerted towards that end, the premier said all elements of success should be combined. He reiterated that the country cannot progress forward as long as there is “administrative limpness”.

The prime minister called on the council to speedily decide on the applications filed by citizens and investors, noting it is “totally unacceptable [for council members] to skip its meetings or act in any way that would slow progress and hinder achievement”.

Moreover, he urged the council to intensify its meetings and develop its work mechanism, through resorting to experts to examine the land regulation applications and present their recommendations to the regulatory body.

Ensour said the inconvenience people experience because of red tape related to the regulation council and affiliated committees “must come to an end”. He voiced hope that during his next visit, “things would be better and transactions would not be piled up as they were today,” noting that 50 transactions were listed on the council's agenda.

The Minister of Municipal Affairs and Chairman of the Higher Regulation Council, Walid Masri said 5,000 regulatory processes were completed last year, of which 60 were investment projects, 30 real estate investment projects and 12 services investment projects.

Masri said during this year, 64 applications for investment projects were processed, 16 of which were related to real estate, industry and other sectors, while 20 other applications concerned requesting permission to build gas stations.

The council holds three to four meetings a week as well as other meetings for exceptional projects that have nothing to do with citizen transactions, Masri said, briefing the prime minister on prototypes of projects offered to the Higher Regulation Council as well as the mechanism of voting for decisions.