‘Planning Ministry finalising recommendations for economy blueprint’

AMMAN – The Planning Ministry is still gathering recommendations from stakeholders in a bid to come up with a final blueprint that seeks to develop the Kingdom’s economy over the next 10 years, a ministry official said Thursday. 

Mukhallad Omari, the director of policies, told The Jordan Times that experts at the ministry are finalising recommendations and strategies proposed by economists, academics, private sector representatives and government officials during a national conference for the 2025 economic vision in September. 

Hundreds of government officials, lawmakers, economists, academics and representatives from the private sector and civil society organisations attended the conference. 

Omari said recommendations prepared by 16 sector committees on seven pillars of the vision will be presented to a technical committee for review next week. 

The pillars include developing human resources; social development; financial policies; trade and industry; business; and the investment environment. 

NGOs and private sector entities are still sending some proposals on how to stimulate the economy, while the sector committees are carrying out consultations with economists and local community representatives, according to the ministry official.

“We are also collecting proposals from those experts who could not attend the conference last month,” Omari added, indicating that a draft of the final recommendations will be ready by the end of this month. 

In March this year, the King sent a letter to Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour directing the government to prepare a plan that would result in a stronger economy, in both macroeconomic and monetary aspects, and ensure consistency, increased competitiveness, productivity and self-reliance.

The ultimate goal, His Majesty said, is to achieve comprehensive development and ensure Jordanians get a “decent living and hope for a better future”.

This economic blueprint should have a comprehensive framework that targets the following: enhancing financial and monetary policies and assuring their consistency; improving economic competitiveness; enhancing values of high productivity and self-reliance to realise sustainable and comprehensive development, the Monarch said in the letter.