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AMMAN — Seventeen terror indictees standing trial in Amman for plotting terrorist attacks pleaded not guilty as the hearings started on Monday, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.  

The case judged by the State Security Court (SSC) involves members of a terrorist cell charged with planning to carry out armed attacks before the General Intelligence Department (GID) thwarted their plans in November 2017. 

The charge list included plotting to carry out terrorist acts on Jordanian turf, promoting the ideology of a terrorist group, engaging in acts of terrorism, trade in firearms and ammunition, funding terrorism and possessing weapons for purposes of using in terrorist acts. 

The cell, according to court documents cited by Petra, divided its members into three groups: the job of the first was to monitor the targets, the second’s was technical support and implementing small tasks, while the mission of the third was executing the major attacks, some through suicide bombings. 

The targets included Ro’ya TV, a French support centre, a nightclub in Shmeisani, Amman, the US embassy building, Jordan Phosphate Company’s tunnels, a church in Marka and a group of Israeli businessmen.

AMMAN — Housing developers will hold a week-long work strike to be followed by a sit-in to protest the recently endorsed building by-law, which they said would lead to further decline in trading in the sector.

On April 22, the country's 3,400 housing companies will stop their construction activities for a week in protest to the by-law, which will go into effect on May 1, Zuhair Omari, president of the Jordan Housing Developers Association (JHDA), told The Jordan Times on Monday.

The sector, which employs tens of thousands of Jordanians, has been witnessing a decline in demand since 2015.

The total value of apartments that were built since 2015 to date and have not been sold yet is estimated at JD1 billion, he said.

Trading last year reached around JD6 billion, which constitutes a 14-per cent drop from 2016.

"This is a huge figure. The majority of these unsold apartments were built in 2015 and 2016 and they still have not been sold… the by-law will just worsen the situation," Omari added Monday.

The by-law, which was recently published in the Official Gazette, stipulates that housing apartments must be at least 110 sq.m in classifications B, C and D, and 130 sq.m in classification A, which, according to housing developers, would limit buyers’ options.

Under the by-law, housing developers cannot build small apartments anymore although the demand in the market is on apartments that are smaller than 120 sq.m, according to Omari.

According to the association's figures, 32 per cent of Jordanians who bought apartments in 2017 chose ones that are smaller than 120 square metres.

The majority of the market’s demand is for apartments of 90 and 80sq.m, according to the association.

On May 2, housing developers will hold a protest near the headquarters of the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) in downtown with the participation of representatives of all other affiliated sectors that are negatively affected by the decision, he said.

“The association’s member firms have also decided to stop proceeding with any transactions at GAM as of April 22 in protest… we had regularly warned against endorsing the by-law but to no avail,” Omari added.

Officials at GAM were not available for comment despite repeated attempts over the past few days by The Jordan Times.

Sami Sabri, a civil engineer at one of the housing companies that is building some apartment buildings in Amman’s Tabarbour area, said the by-law does not take into account that the prices of land soared over the past years, especially in Amman.

“Many buyers come and ask for the cheaper small-size apartments as it would be more affordable to them and easier in terms of securing a loan,” the engineer said on Monday.

Abu Mustafa, an owner of a store Al Muqabalein that provides construction companies with metal fences, said work has been declining over the past two years.

“Business is not like before and some developers do not pay in cash as they used to… the situation is alarming,” Abu Mustafa told The Jordan Times Monday.

AMMAN — Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Monday received a delegation from United States Army War College affiliated with the United States Department of Defence, and they discussed bilateral relations between the two countries, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

Safadi outlined the latest regional developments related to the Palestinian issue, the Syrian crisis and the war on terrorism. 

The delegation was briefed on Jordan's efforts under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah to address regional crises and achieve security, peace and stability.

During the meeting, Safadi praised the strategic relations between the two countries, expressing Jordan's appreciation for the support presented by the US to the Kingdom, especially in defence. 

For their part, the delegation expressed its appreciation for Jordan's role in developing a culture of peace, stressing the importance of supporting the Kingdom, for it is a significant strategic partner in the region. 

The US appropriations for Jordan, both military and economic, were set at no less than $1.525 billion, the Congress has decided. Of the total sum, around $1,08 billion goes as economic assistance including no less than $745.1 million as budget support and no less than $425 million as military assistance.

AMMAN — Approval was issued on Monday for an Iraqi investor to obtain Jordanian nationality under an incentives scheme introduced by the government recently, a government official said on  Monday.

A special ministerial committee involving all concerned authorities issued the approval for the Iraqi investor after he met all conditions to obtain citizenship after making a deposit in the Central Bank of Jordan and buying Treasury bonds, Minister of State for Investment Affairs and Jordan Investment Commission (JIC) Chairman Muhannad Shehadeh told The Jordan Times in a phone interview on Monday.

“The Iraqi investor will be the first investor to obtain citizenship under the new incentive system that we introduced in February of this year,” the minister added.

Approvals for other investors to obtain the Jordanian nationality will be issued in ten days, the minister said.

“The fastest track to obtain the nationality is through making a deposit in the CBJ and buying Treasury bonds…we are keen to ensure high efficiency in the implementation of this measure,” the minister stressed.

According to Shehadeh, the JIC had received 56 applications by Arab investors to obtain Jordanian nationality and permanent residency, following a recent Cabinet decision endorsing the new incentive system.

Of the total, 52 applied for obtaining nationality and four for permanent residency, the minister said, and of the total, 27 had received the necessary security approvals.

The applications were submitted by investors from various nationalities including Iraqi, Lebanese, Syrian, Yemeni and Palestinian, working in the fields of tourism, industry and agriculture, according to the official.

Some of the applicants hold foreign nationalities, including European, American and Commonwealth counties.

Under the decision, investors were offered several options to become eligible for citizenship. They include a zero-interest, five-year $1.5 million deposit at the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ), or buying Treasury bonds of the same value at an interest rate to be decided by CBJ for no less than ten years.

The third option is to buy securities worth $1.5 million from an active investment portfolio, or to invest $1 million in SMEs for at least five years to become a Jordanian national. 

Investors can also make a $2-million investment in any location in the country, or $1.5 million if the project is registered in a governorate other than Amman, provided that the project creates at least 20 job opportunities and remains operational for at least three years.

To obtain permanent residency, any non-Jordanian can buy property worth at least JD200,000 without selling or disposing it in any manner for a period of ten years, provided that the Lands and Survey Department confirms the property’s value.

An investor who obtains any of the mentioned two statuses will have the right to obtain a similar status for his/her spouse, unmarried, widowed or divorced daughters, sons below 18 years old and for their parents, if they are their sole supporters.

AMMAN — Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury on Monday met with professors and students from the United States Army War College (USAWC), a Planning Ministry statement said.

During the meeting, Fakhoury outlined the current economic challenges facing the Kingdom due to the regional situation, including the economic and social burdens which affected the economic growth and the level of investments, in addition to increasing unemployment.

He stressed that despite the tough regional challenges, Jordan has maintained its resilience and voiced his appreciation for the increasing US support to the Kingdom, which has been increased during the past few years.

“Jordan has reached a point of saturation with its current capabilities” Fakhoury said, stressing the need to increase support to the Kingdom through grants and concessional financing so as to enable institutions to continue providing services for refugees and host communities.

“In response to the crisis, Jordan had to move towards transforming the challenges into opportunities through an economic and financial reform programme that preserves monetary and fiscal stability,” he underscored.

He cited the successive response plans and the Jordan Compact, which helped resume the comprehensive development path through a socio-economic roadmap embodied in the Jordan 2025, the Economic Growth Plan, the National Strategy for the Development of Human Resources, the Jordan Digital Strategy, the National Strategy for Employment as well as judicial reforms.   

Pointing out the FY 2018 Omnibus of US Government Funding Bill’s recent endorsement, Fakhoury said that the FY2018 military and economic appropriations for Jordan amounted to $1.525 billion, $1,08 billion of which entail economic assistance, $745.1 million for budget support and $425 million as military assistance, the statement said.

For their part, the delegation members praised Jordan’s humanitarian role in hosting large numbers of Syrian refugees, commending the reform and development programmes being implemented.  

The USAWC provides graduate-level instruction to senior military officers and civilians to prepare them for senior leadership assignments and responsibilities, the statement concluded.

AMMAN — Over 100 policymakers and regulators from around the globe on Monday gathered in Amman for the inauguration of the Financial Technology (FinTech) Policy Forum, organised with the aim of discussing evolving regulatory paradigms around FinTech as a tool for inclusion. 

Organised by the Central Bank of Jordan (CBJ) and the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), the event is held as part of the Financial Inclusion Initiative for the Arab Region launched by the Arab Monetary Fund, the Deutsche für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH and AFI at the 2017 Global Policy Forum in Egypt.

In his inaugural speech, CBJ Governor Ziad Fariz announced the launch of the bank’s new “regulatory sandbox”, a safe space where businesses can test innovative products without immediately incurring into normal regulatory consequences. 

The new system includes the development of an evaluation criterion for the sandbox based on international examples, aimed to allow FinTech firms to test their ideas and open for other firms in the region to experiment in the Kingdom, according to Fariz. 

The governor added that “the CBJ has the leading role in FinTech for financial inclusion”, noting that the bank’s FinTech innovations include interoperable retail payment systems, digitising payments such as cash transfers and bill payments, as well as innovative identity solutions that help include vulnerable sections of the society such as rural population, women and forcibly displaced persons.

For his part, AFI Executive Director Norbert Mumba stressed: "There is a constant urge to stay connected with pervasive access to digital  technology, and this is transforming our personal relationships, the way we do business and the fundamentals of
finance and economics.”

“There is a long way to go, and technology holds promise,” Mumba continued, explaining that “FinTech is transforming the financial services industry radically, and innovations such as big data analytics, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, digital identity and blockchain are already disrupting financial services both at the front-end and the back-end.”

“Yet, technology and data driven financial services pose cyber-security, data privacy and consumer protection risks,” he added, calling on regulators, FinTech companies and other stakeholders to leverage innovations in a “responsible and safe manner” to reach out to vulnerable sections of the society. 

Up to this point, the CBJ has achieved two of the 11 targets at the Maya Declaration of commitments for a greater financial inclusion, breaking barriers on consumer protection and national financial inclusion strategy. 

But the Kingdom is still facing challenges in financial literacy and education, digital financial services, microcredit and microsavings and financial inclusion data, according to AFI sources. 

Running through April 6, the forum is set to cover topics, such as regulating innovations, proliferation of digital credit and regulatory implications, leveraging FinTech to address the refugee crisis and blockchain technology for financial inclusion, according to organisers. 

AMMAN — The Cabinet on Monday approved the code of policies and legislations in government departments, the corporate governance practices and the policy document of impact evaluation for 2018, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The code comes as part of the efforts to reform the public sector and improve its performance in drafting policies and assessing their results.

The policies, which are in line with the best practices of good governance, aim to increase the legislative stability to increase citizens' trust.

AMMAN — The Government on Monday approved a law to abolish the National Information Technology Centre by merging it with the ICT ministry instead, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The law aims to improve the performance of the centre and better utilise its human resources. It also seeks to decrease the number of public agencies' overlap and the duality of authorities involved in the IT sector.

A number of by-laws will be issued to regulate the activities of the centre. 

AMMAN — The Council of Ministers on Monday approved the by-law to utilise modern technology tools in criminal procedures, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The by-law will authorise the prosecutor general and the courts to use modern technology in trials in order to shorten the duration of litigation.

The by-law also aims to facilitate facilitate the procedures of registering cases and other judicial documents at courts for lawyers through creating accounts at the Ministry of Justice's website.

AMMAN — Home cannot be separated from identity and people’s identity is very often found where they come from, French Ambassador to Jordan David Bertolotti told The Jordan Times on Sunday. 

Commenting on the theme of this year’s "Image Festival", the French diplomat said: “Even inside Jordan, many people have to leave their original governorate to come to Amman. This creates new homes, new neighbourhoods compared to the ones they used to know. These former places must not be forgotten because they are a real part of their heritage.”

His remarks came at the opening of the festival's 8th edition, which brought four European professional photographers who will host workshops together with Jordanian artists. 

Linda Khoury, the curator of the festival, said they received requests from all over the world to participate in the event including some from South Afria, Europe, Lebanon and Morocco. 

“There was a lack of financial support this year which was one of our great challenges. The lack of the support is mainly due to financial hardships and not because people do not want to support us,” she told The Jordan Times, adding that this year’s exhibitions will be "very unique". 

Khoury noted that this year's theme — "Home" — illustrates the variety of meanings related to a place, including the feelings and memories tied to it.

“There are two exhibitions presented at the festival opening: the first displaying the work of Moamen Malkawi, a Jordanian photographer who conducted a project on old houses in Irbid. The second was done by Lebanese Marwan Tahtah, who set up an interesting exhibition highlighting the usage of big advertisement banners for refugees’ houses covers,” she added.

Malkawi said he sought to document the architectural side of Jordan. “I started in Irbid in order to highlight the architectural heritage of the area. There are houses that will disappear in the future because there are no clear policies to preserve them. The job of the photographer is to document them so that we can retain traces of these areas even when they have vanished,” he stated.

Highlighting the importance of having photography exhibitions in Amman, Bertolotti said: “The Image Festival has established itself as an important event which puts a focus on visual arts and participates in the teaching of art to the public.” 

Organised and mainly funded by Darat Al Tasweer, the Image Festival is held with the support of the European Union National Institutes for Culture.