Local

AMMAN — A man died on Friday in a drowning accident in the King Abdullah Canal.

The Civil Defence Department said its divers managed to recover body of the 29-year-old from the canal in Northern Shuneh District.

NEWYORK — Jordan on Saturday called for a complete halt to violent acts in South Sudan, stressing the importance of respecting human rights and bringing those involved in crimes against humanity to justice.

Mahmoud Hmoud, senior deputy to Jordan’s permanent representative at the UN, said the government of South Sudan and the opposition should shoulder their responsibilities in this regard, noting that the International Criminal Court must also assume its role.

During a discussion of the situation in South Sudan at the Security Council on Friday, Hmoud said the situation has worsened, noting that it is important to identify the areas where violations are most common to protect civilians.

AMMAN — The Public Security Department (PSD) said the King Hussein Bridge will be closed for passengers at 8pm on Monday.

The last bus will leave at 5:30pm but the border will remain open for official delegations, diplomats and UN employees until 8pm, while cargo movement will continue until 12pm.

The PSD said the usual bridge timings will apply for passengers on Tuesday, but it will be completely closed for cargo.

Meanwhile, the Jordan Valley crossing will be open for passengers from 6:30am until 7pm on Monday but will be closed for cargo.

The crossing will be open for passengers as usual the next day but will remain closed to cargo.

AMMAN — The Jordan Press Association (JPA) council on Saturday named Awni Dawood as deputy president, Hazim Khaldi as secretary and Fakhri Abu Hamdeh as treasurer.

The council also named Ali Freihat as JPA spokesperson, Samar Haddadin as deputy secretary and Walid Habahbeh as deputy treasurer, according to a JPA statement.

AMMAN — Generations For Peace (GFP) concluded its recent refresher workshop, hosted at the organisation’s headquarters in Jordan.

Over the course of five days, the workshop brought together 28 volunteer leaders of youths from Afghanistan, Ghana, Iraq, Pakistan, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda, according to a GFP statement released Saturday.

“The training strengthened the participants’ capacity and existing knowledge, updating them on developments in Generations For Peace’s unique peace-building curriculum and methodologies for conflict analysis, programme design, monitoring and evaluation,” the statement said.

HRH Prince Feisal, GFP founder and chairman, emphasised the importance of the training.

“Workshops of this kind allow our volunteers to explore topics they are already familiar with, helping to enhance their skills in peace building and conflict transformation,” he said in the statement.

AMMAN — Twenty-five people were injured on Saturday when a Karak-Ghor Safi bus overturned in the Kharza area, according to the Civil Defence Department (CDD).

CDD personnel administered first aid to the injured before taking them to Prince Ali Military Hospital and Karak Public Hospital.

 The injured were reported to be in fair condition.

AMMAN — The Jordanian Arbitrators’ Association (JAA) has elected Omar M.  H.  Aljazy as its president for a three-year term.

A private organisation composed of approximately 150 professional members from various disciplines, the JAA was founded in 1997 to promote “the culture of arbitration in resolving disputes throughout Jordan and the region”, according to a JAA statement.

Aljazy is the founding and managing partner of Aljazy & Co.

, a commercial law firm in Jordan specialising in transactional, litigation and alternative dispute resolution at local and international levels.

AMMAN — The Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs will start receiving Hajj (the greater Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca) applications by the end of this week and for the following 10 days, Awqaf Minister Hayel Dawood said on Saturday.

Dawood added that 70 per cent of Jordan’s quota will be chosen according to age, 20 per cent by lot and 10 per cent from Hajj Fund subscribers.

The first batch will leave the Kingdom on Dhul Qadah 30 on the lunar Hijri calendar, which is expected to fall on September 25, according to the minister.

SALT — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Friday inaugurated a new mosque in Salt that was built using donations from the sons of the late Mohammad Abu Nahar Abu Hazim.

The Abu Nahar Mosque, built on a 1,000-square metre area, will include a special section for Koran studies.

Following is the official translation of Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour’s letter to His Majesty King Abdullah on drafting a 10-year economic blueprint:

Your Majesty King Abdullah II ibn Al Hussein,

Leader of the reform process and protector of Jordan and its stability and prosperity, 

Peace, God’s mercy and blessings be upon you,

My Cabinet and I have received, with gratitude and honour, Your Majesty’s letter directing the government to draft a 10-year economic blueprint for Jordan. I would like to affirm, Your Majesty, that putting forward full-fledged plans, aimed at enhancing all aspects of the country’s financial and monetary policy and guaranteeing their consistency, improving economic competitiveness and promoting the values of productivity and self-reliance in order to improve citizens’ living standards and ensure a bright future for Jordanian men and women, has been a constant practice and a key goal of this government.

The Cabinet and I assure Your Majesty that we will work diligently to prepare this blueprint, adopting a participatory approach, based on openness to all of the country’s social and economic stakeholders, including government agencies, Parliament, the private sector, civil society organisations and other national entities. Through this approach, the blueprint will be the fruit of a collective national endeavour, where all stakeholders have an active role to play, not only its drafting, but also in the process of its implementation and follow-up. We will work on institutionalising the role of the private sector, to further emphasise the important part it plays in development.

Further, in line with Your Majesty’s directives, this effort will result in drawing a roadmap for my government and the governments to follow. It will be based on an assessment of the reality of the challenges facing the national economy, particularly those related to meeting the requirements of energy, water and food security. In addition, the roadmap is expected to address the high rate of unemployment, especially among youth, the low level of women’s participation in the workforce, discrepancies in the levels of development between governorates and the mounting public debt as well as the growing state budget deficit. Added to that is the impact of the difficult regional situation, particularly the Syrian refugee crisis, which poses a burden on Jordanian citizens and the national economy.

I would like also to emphasise that this undertaking will be built on sectoral and national efforts, policies and strategies, such as the outputs of the National Integrity Committee, Privatisation Committee, National Recruitment Strategy and National Anti-Poverty Strategy, along with strategies tailored for vital sectors such as energy, agriculture, tourism, transportation and others. The blueprint will also be built on the National Agenda, in a way that ensures coordination and consistency between all these plans at the economic and social levels.

The blueprint will complement the government’s action plan and programmes for the years 2013-2016, which we presented to the 17th Parliament in its non-ordinary session. It will also be aligned with other national fiscal and economic reform programmes. Based on Your Majesty’s letter, the vision aims to position Jordan as a regional hub of economic activities, capitalising on the relative advantages of certain sectors, such as transportation and energy, pharmaceuticals, mining, tourism and education services, information technology, healthcare, design and architecture and consultation, engineering, financial, banking and logistic services. Hopefully, these sectors will be the drivers of development in the coming decade.

The task at hand aims to achieve the following objectives:

•To boost levels of economic growth, achieve fiscal stability and reduce financial waste, while delivering support to those who deserve it, in addition to expanding the middle class and reducing public debt to safe levels;

•To enhance the business and investment environment and raise its competitiveness to become attractive for local and foreign investment in the various economic sectors and in a way that guarantees that Jordan’s ranking would improve on international competitiveness indicators; to enhance and institutionalise partnership between the public and private sectors and revisit the role of the private sector in terms of its size and the nature of its contribution to the development process;     

•To develop economic sectors, encourage market creativity and hone the tools and means of supporting priority and high-value added export-oriented sectors;

•To encourage small- and medium-sized businesses, increase financial support for these enterprises, provide them with a suitable environment to prosper as engines of economic growth and promote their role as employers of young people, by encouraging the spirit of entrepreneurship and innovation;

•To enhance policies related to human resources, link education policies to labour market demands, focus on building a labour force through vocational training, especially youth, so that they gradually replace guest labour, and encourage women to join the labour market;

•To stimulate local and comprehensive development in communities, narrow developmental gaps between governorates and apply decentralisation to empower local communities and engage them in the decision-making process related to the development of their areas;

•To give necessary attention to people with special needs and work to fully integrate them in society.

Your Majesty,

As we prepare this blueprint for the future of the Jordanian economy, which will be completed before the end of this year, we will identify the roles and responsibilities of all stakeholders, during both the drafting and implementation stages. The blueprint will be formulated by technical committees represented by all concerned sectors. It will harness all available expertise, locally and internationally, in order to produce an outcome that will be a national achievement for Jordan, in line with best international practices.

The practical aspect of the blueprint will entail a three-phase executive programme, extending to 2025, including indicators to measure performance and progress. The Unit of Follow-up and Oversight of Government Performance at the Prime Ministry will be activated to oversee all arrangements and proposals entailed in the plan. Reports will be published regularly, making them accessible to the Jordanian public to detect any failures in the process. This process is intended to increase the government’s credibility and people’s confidence in it. Those who fail to deliver will be held accountable.

The challenges we face are numerous and formidable, but they motivate us to carry out the task in the spirit of teamwork, turning difficulties facing the national economy into opportunities that lead to the economic revival you envision, and allow us to serve our noble nation under your wise leadership.

May God keep you as the leader and precious asset of our homeland, and preserve Jordan as a prosperous and proud country.

Prime Minister

Dr Abdullah Ensour

Amman

Rajab 4, 1435H

May 3, 2014AD