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Formidable odds

Dec 28,2014 - Last updated at Dec 28,2014

Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour recently presided over an intergovernmental committee formed to develop and adopt a “framework” or vision for the country’s economic and social development for the next 10 years.

Trying to formulate an economic and social plan of action until 2025 is no easy task, as indeed the committee found out, because of the so many factors that cannot be easily foreseen.

As such, the mission of the government is quite difficult, yet it seems determined to come up with an outline for the future of the country even when the odds are formidable.

Most countries have five- or ten-year plans that guide their economic development. Jordan should be no exception.

Given the fact that economic and social development is interlinked, the prime minister is calling on the committee to treat the two dimensions as inseparable.

A sudden fluctuation in the price of oil, for example, can play havoc with the best-laid plans of any economy in the world.

The energy element figures high in Jordan’s case, a country starved of sources of energy, so in order to chart relatively accurately the course of economic development, it needs to know where exactly it stands on the matter.

In other words, Jordan needs to know which are dependable, affordable, sources of energy and work towards securing them.

Politically, the unstable conditions in the region are not conducive to accurate predictions, so they also have to be taken into consideration.

Jordan is a safe haven in the region, but its economy is strongly linked to those of its neighbours, and figuring those out will not be easy.

Despite the many challenges and constraints, the government must still work to develop a vision for the future of the country’s economic and social development.

Citizens need and deserve to know where they stand, what is in stock for them and how their lives are going to be shaped.

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