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AMMAN — An 18-year-old man died on Saturday from a bullet to the chest in front of his house west of Irbid, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, quoted a source from Irbid's police as saying.

The source said Irbid's prosecutor general and forensic department investigated the crime scene, and referred the body to the northern district forensics centre.

The source said an investigation into the incident is under way, noting that it is still unknown if the man was targeted by the shooter or if killed by a stray. 

AMMAN — Institut Français in Jordan, in collaboration with the Royal Film Commission, is calling for Jordanian short films to compete in the Jordanian Short Film Competition on the occasion of the 22nd Franco Arab Film Festival, to be held between May 28 and June 2.

Deadline for submission is on May 1. Winners will be announced during the closing reception on June 2, according to an Institut Français statement. More information is available on www.film.jo and www.ifjordan.com.

AMMAN — A public hearing took place in Salt on Saturday as part of an EU-funded project to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Lower House, bringing together Balqa MPs with their constituents, according to an EU statement. "The hearing... was the first interactive discussion between MPs and civil society organisations of this governorate," the statement said.

Citizens and organised groups (NGOs, trade unions, private sector) had an opportunity to express their vision and build a sustainable relationship with MPs. This event is a tool for lawmakers to reflect citizens’ interests along their mandate and report on their own performance to receive feedback, the statement said.

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Thursday denounced the terrorist explosion that targeted military vehicles in Ankara on Wednesday and resulted in the death and injury of innocent victims. 

The King, in a cable sent to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, conveyed his condolences over the loss of life and wished the injured a speedy recovery, according to a Royal Court statement.

His Majesty also stressed the Kingdom’s support for Turkey and its people to overcome the tragedy and defeat terrorism. 

Also on Thursday, the government expressed its condemnation of the terrorist attack, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications Mohammad Momani stressed Jordan’s solidarity with Turkey in combating terrorism.

Momani also called for enhancing and better coordinating the fight against terror organisations and extremist ideologies. 

He also offered his condolences to the families of the deceased and wished the injured a speedy recovery, Petra added.

AMMAN – Jordanians were among the top investors in Dubai's real estate market in 2015, according to official data released recently by the emirate. 

Dubai Land Department (DLD) said that 1,516 Jordanians bought properties worth over 3.51 billion dirhams –– around JD677 million or $955 million --–– last year, ranking third among Arab investors after Saudis and Kuwaitis, who invested around 9.56 billion dirhams ($2.6 billion) and 3.56 dirhams ($971 million) respectively. 

Jordanians were followed by Qataris with investments worth 2.7 billion dirhams ($761 million) and investors from Egypt who bought properties valued at 2.55 billion dirhams ($695 million), the DLD report showed. 

The land department said that nearly 56,000 investors from various Arab and foreign nationalities invested over 135 billion dirhams (around $36.7 billion) in Dubai's property market last year. 

Properties bought by Arabs in Dubai reached around $16.3 billion, while investments of non-Arabs were around $20 billion. 

Among non-Arabs, Indians came first, followed by British nationals and Pakistanis, the DLD report indicated. 

In remarks to The Jordan Times in November last year, Jordan Housing Developers Association President Fawaz Al Hassan said Jordanians’ real estate investments outside the Kingdom were estimated at more than $5 billion.

He said that Jordanian investors have large investments in regional countries such as the UAE, Morocco, Egypt and Turkey, attributing the rising investments outside the Kingdom to incentives Jordanians receive in these markets. 

Hassan has also said that dozens of housing companies have opened businesses in regional markets. 

ZURICH — FIFA presidential candidate HRH Prince Ali said he would set up an independent oversight group led by former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan if elected.

A statement on Thursday by Prince Ali's campaign organisers said the group would "help steer FIFA through its first year to recover from crisis and to support the future reform process".

Football's world ruling body is engulfed in a graft scandal that has led to the indictment of several dozen leading football officials in the United States, and is under enormous pressure to reform.

Prince Ali is one of five candidates standing to replace outgoing FIFA president Sepp Blatter, himself banned for eight years for ethics violations, in the February 26 election.

Last year, campaign group New FIFA Now also called for Annan to be put in charge of an independent reform commission.

Thursday's statement said Prince Ali had already discussed the idea with Annan.

It said the group would focus on governance issues "with the goal of stabilising an organisation in crisis."

In the longer term, it would turn its attention to FIFA's development policies, and advise on aspects of the sport such as the expansion of the World Cup and combating match-fixing.

“The FIFA Oversight Group... is an essential element to revive FIFA’s reputation and restore it to what it should be — a service organisation for football,” said Prince Ali.

“Having the commitment of a group of people with such impeccable credentials, unquestioned integrity and global standing represents an unprecedented response to the unprecedented crisis sweeping FIFA.”

AMMAN — The intensified efforts by the government and industry authorities to promote the Kingdom’s tourism attractions have not yet had a positive impact on visitor numbers, according to sector leaders. 

Some sector representatives said on Thursday that the campaigns run by the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) are not targeting the right destinations to achieve the desired results, while others said campaigns should continue despite the challenges in the markets already targeted.

The Cabinet decided last year to increase the budget of the JTB to enable it to promote the Kingdom’s tourist attractions in regional and international markets.

Campaigns launched last year included television and radio commercials, in addition to advertisements on billboards, taxis and train stations, in countries such as France, Germany and the UK.

For Zaid Naffa, the Jordanian consul in Budapest, short period campaign in each country is not enough to promote Jordan’s tourism.

“We need sustainability and to be present all the time,” Naffa told The Jordan Times over the phone from Budapest, adding that the country’s tourism offering “is absent from the shelves of travel offices in Europe”.

When potential tourists go to a travel agent’s office, they find nothing about the country’s attractions, according to Naffa.

“Promotion campaigns need follow-up… if we do not follow up, short campaigns will not be enough," he said.

The consul added that advertisements on billboards, taxis and in railway stations do not amount to a real campaign, but rather “these are only a reminder to potential tourists and a complement to sustainable campaigns".

For Khaled Nawafleh, president of the Petra Hotels Association, the pictures used on billboards deliver the message that Jordan is only Petra, desert and camels.

“This is not correct… the campaign should show the world that Jordan has more,” Nawafleh said, suggesting that online efforts should be further intensified.

Both Naffa and Nawafleh stressed the need to have “packages” and charter flights available to provide trips to tourists at an affordable price.

"Aggressive campaigns... should be run in parallel with the packages that we already have," Naffa stressed, noting that promotional efforts will not achieve their goals without package tours being offered to the targeted tourists.

Individual or online reservations, he argued, will not make up 3 or 5 per cent of the total volume of tourists.

Citing Turkey as an example, Nawafleh said tour packages to Turkey are limited compared to Jordan, but visitors will eventually spend more money there. 

He stressed that the benefit from visitors is not only what they pay for tickets and hotels, since other sectors will benefit as well.

In addition, promotion and marketing campaigns, Naffa said, should be sustainable, not only conducted in emergency situations.

The sector needs a long-term plan that focuses on sustainability, he added.

Target markets

According to Nabih Riyal, owner of an inbound tourism agency, the JTB campaigns are targeting the wrong markets.

“We are not receiving tourists from Europe. Why should we invest in campaigns there?” he asked.

Riyal, who voiced concern that some tourism offices might end up closing their doors and leaving Jordanians without jobs, said the focus should be on Arab and Far East markets instead.

Yet for Mohammad Samih, also the owner of an inbound tourism agency, European markets should not be neglected even if the number of tourists arriving from there is currently low.

Although he also voiced concern about the sector's losses, Samih said it is still early to judge the campaigns’ effect.

Responding to these comments from sector representatives, JTB Managing Director Abed Al Razzaq Arabiyat said it is too early to judge the campaigns until after the tourism season that starts in mid-March.

He noted that travel agents asked the JTB to target consumers in the UK and France, and these are some of the markets covered by the campaign.

Arabiyat added that there will be campaigns in new markets, including China and Korea very soon, in addition to road shows in Arab countries.

As for packages for tourists, the official said these should be produced by tour agencies and not the JTB, which is in charge of promotion.

Last year, 4,811,352 tourists visited Jordan, a 9.7 per cent drop compared to 2014, when 5,326,501 visited the Kingdom.

Tourism revenues in 2015 stood at JD2.886 billion, a 7.1 per cent drop from JD3.107 billion in 2014.

AMMAN — Friday will be warm and pleasant, according to the Jordan Meteorological Department (JMD), which said cold and rainy weather will make a comeback early next week.

Temperatures on Friday will be eight degrees above their annual average of 14.8ºC for this time of the year, JMD meteorologist Laila Shaheen said, noting that the weather will be warm across the country.

Daytime temperatures will be 23ºC, dropping to 9ºC at night in Amman, while winds will be southwesterly moderate to brisk, raising dust in the desert, according to the JMD, which said that the weather at night will become relatively cold, with chances of nighttime showers in the north.

A drop in temperatures is forecast for Saturday, when the weather will be relatively cold across the country and warm in the Jordan Valley and the Gulf of Aqaba, the department said.

Winds will be westerly to northwesterly moderate to brisk, raising dust in the desert, while temperatures will be 18ºC during the day, dropping to 8ºC at night in the capital.

A depression will start affecting the Kingdom on Sunday, bringing temperatures down to their annual average for this time of the year, according to Shaheen.

"As of Sunday noon, the weather will be cloudy with showers in the northern and central parts of the country. By nighttime, rain is likely to become heavier and will be accompanied by thunder and lightning. Also, by Sunday night, the southern region will start receiving rainfall," she told The Jordan Times.

Temperatures will be 15ºC during the day, dropping to a low of 7ºC at night in Amman, while winds will be southwesterly brisk.

The depression is expected to prevail on Monday as well, Shaheen said.

AMMAN — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Thursday checked on the progress in the construction of Ibn Hammad Dam in Karak as part of a field visit to a set of development projects in the southern governorate.

Ensour listened to a briefing by Water Minister Hazem Nasser, who said that 30 per cent of the project is completed, adding that the 4 million cubic metre (mcm) dam will increase the storage capacity of the country's dams from 325 to 400mcm, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

In previous remarks to The Jordan Times, Water Ministry Spokesperson Omar Salameh said construction work on the project commenced after the ministry signed an agreement with local contractors in December 2014 to start implementation.

The dam will be ready in three years to recharge aquifers in Ibn Hammad and provide farmers and cattle breeders with water, Salameh said.

Ibn Hammad Dam is being built at a cost of JD27 million, of which JD26 million will be paid by the Arab Potash Company and the rest by the Treasury, according to the spokesperson.

Named after the Ibn Hammad Valley, the 52-metre-high dam will help meet the increasing demand for water in the country, according to the ministry.

Ensour also checked on the construction of a road linking Karak, some 140km south of Amman, with the southern Jordan Valley, a school, and  the expansion of Ghor Al Safi Public Hospital and listened to briefings by the concerned ministers on the progress achieved, according to Petra. 

AMMAN — Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh on Thursday met with his Icelandic counterpart Gunnar Bragi Sveinsson and discussed bilateral relations and the latest regional developments.

The two officials stressed the importance of boosting cooperation in all domains, especially in trade and renewable energy, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Judeh, who is also deputy prime minister, stressed the importance of relaunching Palestinian-Israeli peace negotiations, which should ultimately lead to the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.

On Syria, Judeh reiterated Jordan's unaltered position which advocates a comprehensive political solution that safeguards Syria's territorial unity and ends the suffering of its people.

The two officials also discussed the situation in Iraq, Libya and Yemen as well as international counterterrorism efforts.

For his part, Sveinsson voiced his country's keenness on enhancing its relations with Jordan, especially in trade exchange and investments.

He also commended Jordan's key role in the region and its efforts to restore security and stability.