Project under way to review economic laws in consultation with private sector — Fakhoury

AMMAN — The government has launched the Jordan Economic Legislation Reform project to review and modernise laws and regulations related to commercial activities, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury said Saturday. 

At a meeting with representatives of the private sector and 19 private sector associations, Fakhoury said the laws will be reformed based on consultations with the private sector to comply with best international practices, according to a ministry statement.

The government, he added, received a grant from the Deauville Partnership of the G7 Group for the project. 

It will be implemented in cooperation with the International Finance Corporation over a period of three years, the statement said. 

Fakhoury highlighted the "transformative effect" that this project will have on the economy as it entails modernising the legal and organisational framework that governs economic activities, and reviewing the contradictory and unclear laws that are the main obstacles facing investors.

The project will focus on the laws on customs, companies, insolvency and bankruptcy, real estate mortgages as a security, consumer protection, and consolidated financial accounts. 

It will also address the regulations on non-Jordanian investments, planning and building licences in development and free zones, and the law on leasing immoveable properties and selling them to non-Jordanians and juridical persons, according to the ministry.

The government, Fakhoury said, upon the directives of the prime minister and the economic development committee, set up a government committee chaired by the minister of planning and international cooperation, with the purpose of drawing up a plan to include all economic laws that require amending, along with suggested changes.

"We informed the private sector of the progress done in the component of economic incentives, which includes a number of economic incentives and additional measures that are under consideration," the statement quoted the minister as saying.

The meeting also discussed the second component, which entails fast-track reforms to enhance the business environment and ease measures to obtain construction permits, register properties and pay taxes. 

Moreover, the minister reviewed government efforts to improve the business environment and the investment climate, to improve Jordan's ranking in the Doing Business report. 

The government has also laid down an executive plan that includes a stimulus package to improve the rate of economic growth, he said.

The minister told the representatives of private sector organisations, which are all members of the National Council on Competitiveness and Innovation, that all suggestions and recommendations coming from the private sector would be collected and taken into consideration.

Representatives of the private sector praised the government's measures in this regard and in enhancing public-private sector partnership in the field of drawing economic policies, according to the statement.

They also offered a number of proposals and recommendations to improve the legislative environment to stimulate business.