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AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Tuesday sent a cable to Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulating him on his reelection as General Secretary of the Communist Party of China, according to a Royal Court statement.

The King affirmed Jordan's keenness to continue strengthening cooperation and strategic partnership with China in various fields, thus contributing to the common interests of the two countries and enhancing regional and global security and stability. In his cable, His Majesty wished the Chinese president good health and the people of China further progress and prosperity.

AMMAN — FikrTech forum, organised by the Crown Prince Foundation (CPF), concluded on Tuesday at the Ras Al Ain Hangar, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The event, which lasted for five days, included workshops and training sessions with the participation of hundreds of young people from various governorates.

During the forum, which was inaugurated by HRH Crown Prince Hussein, numerous initiatives of the Crown Prince Foundation were presented that aimed at enhancing the skills of youth and providing them with learning opportunities.

Nour Abu Al Ragheb, acting CEO of the foundation, expressed her pleasure in the success of FikrTech and announced the foundation's plans to expand to other governorates next year.

CPF is working to implement the vision of Prince Hussein, in supporting youth and enhancing their capacities at various levels.

AMMAN — HRH Prince Feisal, the founder and chairman of the Generations for Peace (GFP), on Tuesday presented awards to GFP volunteers for their "distinguished" achievements, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The awards were divided into four categories: creativity, quality, effect and sustainability. During the ceremony, which took place at the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre near the Dead Sea, the prince stressed the importance of enhancing positive values in dialogue, cooperation and nationalism to face extremism and violence across the globe. GFP aims at youth empowerment in decision making, peace and security keeping against violence and extremism.

AMMAN — The Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) on Monday launched a campaign to promote tourism in the city of Amman, under the title “#Amman24”, which has triggered tremendous enthusiasm among a diversified audience worldwide, thanks to effective interaction by social media influencers. 

The event was praised by numerous social media users, including Her Majesty Queen Rania, who wrote: “Pleased to welcome the guests of #Amman24 to #Jordan. Enjoy your tour of our capital city! #LoveJO”.

The campaign, which aims to help Arab and foreign tourists discover new places in the capital, was set up within a 24-hour timeframe, during which visitors were taken around Amman to enjoy a number of interesting places and activities available in the city.

“We wanted to showcase Amman as a capital for tourists and show the world that we have many hidden gems to be discovered. We aimed to highlight the variety of culinary, artistic and cultural local experiences Amman has to offer, not only in 24 hours, but throughout the year,” said Abdal Razzaq Arabiyat, JTB’s managing director.

The JTB selected 20 Instagramers, bloggers and travel photographers from various countries to promote Jordan through pictures posted on their social media accounts.

“We chose individuals who are very influential on social media and whom had never been to Jordan before,” Alaa Hindi, director of digital marketing at JTB told The Jordan Times over the phone, noting that the social media influencers have an overall of 3 million followers altogether.

The group of 20, coming from Germany, Austria, Kuwait and Belgium, were taken around the city, starting with a morning visit to the Citadel, where they witnessed the early sunrise from atop the hill overlooking the old town.

After being welcomed by a traditional music band at the Jordan River Foundation, they were acquainted with the handicrafts produced by local women at the foundation, which is supported by Her Majesty Queen Rania.

The group then went on to get a taste of a traditional Jordanian breakfast at Shams Al Balad in Jabal Amman before continuing their journey to the Abdali Boulevard. 

They later explored the bustling streets of downtown Amman and the trendy spots of Rainbow Street.

“We tried to show them the two sides of Amman: the old city with downtown and Al Luweibdeh and the new Amman at the Boulevard, Abdoun etc,” Al Hindi explained, stressing the combinationof local and international influences showcased in the visit.

“As a food blogger who had never been to Jordan, I was thrilled to experience the local dining scene, the cafés, the Jordanian cuisine and the multiculturalism of the city,” said Talal Al Rashed, a well-known Instagramer and Snapchatter from Kuwait.

“It was truly the best way to discover the hidden local venues, the best street food and fine dining. Amman24 gave me the opportunity to meet a variety of people who are specialised in the city and had so many recommendations to give,” he told The Jordan Time in a phone interview.

Since the announcement of the Amman24 campaign, social media platforms have been flooded with locals posting recommendations and pictures of their beloved city, going from aerial shots of the Citadel at night, to renowned Hashem restaurant in downtown, and daily scenes of the streets of Jabal Amman.

Both locals and visitors took to Twitter to suggest their favourite places to visit in a day.

Displaying a picture of the famous Jordanian dishes including hummus, shakshooka, falafel and gallayet bandora (sliced tomato fried in olive oil), Lara Denian wrote: “When in #Amman for 24 hours make sure not to miss our delicious traditional breakfast meals! #Amman24”.

For her part, Maha Amro took to Twitter to say: “#Amman24 a must visit! Jordanians are hospitable, Amman is 100% safe! A hub of Middle Eastern arts and culture and the weather is your friend”.

“Up to Tuesday afternoon, the Arabic and English hashtags have reached more than 50 million mentions online, which is a tremendous success,” Al Hindi said, expressing his enthusiasm for similar events in the future. 

AMMAN — HRH Prince Hassan on Monday inaugurated the "Hassan Bin Talal Section" at the Hashemite University library, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The section encompasses books, researches, studies and articles written by the prince on intellectual, social, economic, developmental, religious and humanitarian issues. During the opening ceremony, Prince Hassan said that Jordan has been witnessing continuous progress since the era of the founding fathers, and the reign of His Majesty the late King Hussein, and continues now under His Majesty King Abdullah.

Prince Hassan added that he hopes the section will help future generations, appreciating Hashemite University for launching this section. For his part, Hashemite University President Kamal Bani Hani said the university intends to establish "Hassan Bin Talal scholarship" to grant doctorate degrees in the field of cultures and religion.

AMMAN — The Jordan Valley Farmers Union (JVFU) on Tuesday announced the continuation of the recruitment of foreign workers in the agricultural sector following a 16-month ban.

JVFU President Adnan Khaddam said that authorities received the first application for recruiting agricultural workers from Egypt earlier this week, and that they are expecting farmers to start submitting more applications to the Ministry of Labour.

Khaddam noted that the ban was lifted following “strong objections” from every segment of the agricultural sector over the past year, adding that a meeting between farmers’ representatives and Prime Minister Hani Mulki held earlier last month pushed for lifting the ban.

“Following the meeting, the prime minister issued instructions to allow the recruitment of new guest workers in the agricultural sector to provide farmers with the number of agricultural workers needed,” Khaddam told The Jordan Times over the phone.

He praised the new decision, underscoring that it will “save the agricultural sector from further deterioration”.

“A total of 60-65 per cent of land in the Jordan Valley was not cultivated this past year and the lack of agricultural workers is to blame,” Khaddam highlighted.

The union had also recently complained about the same issue.

The government announced in June last year that it had stopped the recruitment of new guest workers in an effort to regulate the labour market and study the number of guest workers in Jordan.

The decision had angered segments of the agricultural sector, pushing the government to later grant exceptions and announcing that it would be unifying guest workers’ permit fees.

The guest labourers’ fees, which used to cost employers between JD180 and JD700, depending on the sector, were unified at JD300. The government said that the decision was meant to streamline the market.

Khaddam said that even with the decision to allow the recruitment of new guest workers in the agricultural sector, the union still has pending demands.

“We urge the government to reconsider its decision to raise the recruitment fees and to also abolish the decision obliging farmers who employ 6-20 agricultural workers to provide a ban guarantee of JD5,000,” Khaddam added.

He underlined that small farmers, who make up 90 per cent of the agricultural sector, are the ones who hire less than 20 foreign agricultural workers.

In light of the losses suffered by the sector due to the lack of sufficient marketing, the farmers are experiencing financial hardships and most of them are in debt with  the banks, he explained.

The Ministry of Agriculture first announced its plans for re-allowing the recruitment of new guest workers in the sector in September. It indicated that the step was aimed at increasing the number of guest workers in the agricultural sector as more lands are expected to be cultivated this year, following the reopening of the Karameh-Tureibil border crossing in late August, according to sector insiders.

The Tureibil border crossing is considered by farmers and by fruits and vegetables exporters as the gateway for Jordanian produce to reach the Iraqi market.

AMMAN — Leadership skills, soft skills, communication skills and credibility are essential features to find the right kind of talent that companies want, experts said on Tuesday at a panel discussion at the Talent Forward event in Amman. 

The panel which discussed “The art of attracting the right talent” gathered specialists in human resources to explore how different companies working in various sectors employ and recruit talented employees at the Talent Forward event. 

Speaking at the panel, SVP Internal Control at Pharmacy 1 company Lara Abbassi said that the “right talent” is not only someone qualified but must also be aligned 100 per cent with the goals of the company for growth and business development. 

“At the early stages of the company’s establishment we thought that recruiting A-students and graduates with excellent degrees is the right thing but we discovered that technical skills are not enough for doing the role [of the job]” Abbassi, the company’s HR manager, said. 

While Moatasim Salameh Head of HR of Pepsico Jordan said that his company counts on a leadership model in employing talents that are basically characterised with eagerness for challenges to ensure the growth of the employee along with the company.

Edward Zreik, CHRO of Orange Telecommunications Company said that the gap between the quality of job applicants and the needs of a company makes recruiting the right talent more challenging. 

Salameh stressed that the problem with jobseekers in Jordan lies in the possession of soft skills such as communication skills and English language, especially those with years of expertise. 

Abbassi agreed with Salameh and said that universities fail to teach students these skills, citing the example of a pharmacist’s soft skills that enables him/her to attend to a customer whose baby is crying in the car and provide medical advice in 30 seconds. 

Abbasi noted that companies need to be part of the change by providing students with skills through different educational methods, such as the virtual pharmacy model applied by Pharmacy 1 in various universities that helps the company in attracting the appropriate talent they are looking for. 

Zreik said that recruiters can offer a talented candidate with fewer skills than the required for a job with induction and training.  

However, recruiters found it difficult to distinguish the wrong candidate who passed the recruitment stage due to their good self-marketing skills but had lower than expected performance.

Salameh urged jobseekers to be honest in their resumes and their interviews when it comes to describing their capabilities and competencies. 

Sevan Tchakmakian, HR business partner at Aramex, said that one of the major challenges for employers is to retain the employee who has passed training and has achieved significant career growth within the company. 

The event was organised by Bayt.com, a job site that connects job seekers with employers looking to hire. 

AMMAN — Five municipalities in Jordan are making use of a new one-year project run by the Planning and International Cooperation Ministry and the World Bank to develop their urban planning.

Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Imad Fakhoury on Tuesday acted as patron to the “first-of-its-kind” workshop that tackled the outcome of a project in the Arab world that aims Jordan to develop the capacities of five selected municipalities in the Kingdom with the help and technical assistance of the World Bank.

The project, which will be completed by the end of this year, is being implemented in Mafraq, Irbid, Rusaifa, Zarqa and the Greater Amman Municipality.

“We aim to put in place new planning tools to set the new green worth planning frameworks for these five cities,” Fakhouri told The Jordan Times.

The minister added that “this is quite critical given the challenges all cities in Jordan are mostly facing because they do not have proper long-term plans for their urban development since we had a sudden increase in population”.

Fakhoury was referring to the influx of Syrian refugees in Jordan, which he said “increased the population by 14 per cent with a ratio of refugees to Jordanians by 21 per cent”.

“That added additional pressure on the infrastructure, the land use and the challenges that even preceded the places with sprawl, unorganised and unplanned growth in these municipalities,” Fakhoury added.

He pointed out that for the first time in the Arab region, “we are able to put in place the new green scenario urban planning tools to assist the municipalities to conduct extensive work to put future plans on different scenarios for the growth of their cities.”

“We are at the central level supporting these local efforts given the reform path that we are implementing following the recent municipal elections so that we support the local capacities to better plan their cities, which is in line with our government policy for creating more local sustainable development at the level of the cities and governorates,” the minister added.

“The plan is for these cities to develop, and the recommendations coming out of today’s meeting will be used to benefit other municipalities in the Kingdom,” Fakhoury said.

Whatever comes out of these recommendations, he added, “will help us take the necessary measure at the level of the Cabinet to implement whatever comes out of this meeting”.

Tania Meyer, the Resident Representative of the World Bank in Jordan, described the workshop as being critical because “it tackles one of the biggest challenges Jordan has faced in recent years, which is rapid population growth”.  

Much of this population growth, according to Meyer, has been focused on a few urban areas, including the five targeted municipalities. 

“Altogether, these cities are home to well over half of Jordan’s total population,” she added.

“These cities are governorate centres, which means they’re very important within the decentralisation framework as urban centres to upscale smaller communities around them,” Meyer stated. 

She said that rapid population growth results in rapid urban growth and “once a city is built, it is very hard to change patterns of urban spatial structure.”  

“The opportunity to change is greatest before more permanent structures such as roads, infrastructure and houses are built,” Meyer stressed.

AMMAN — Prime Minister Hani Mulki on Tuesday met with Lower House’s Reform bloc headed by MP Abdullah Akaileh, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The talks were part of meetings held by the government with parliamentary blocs, business representatives and citizens to discuss the economic challenges and reforms the government intends to implement.

Akaileh said that the bloc is hoping that the government listens to its view points about the challenges Jordan is facing and the repercussions of regional crises. 

He stressed that the Reform bloc’s position is with the public’s interest. However, Akaileh pointed out the importance of strengthening the role of the state and the rule of law in the fight against all forms of corruption, nepotism and administrative dereliction.

On the economic level, he mentioned that citizens are “not feeling” growth reflecting on their daily lives, stressing the importance of working on this issue to find solutions to poverty and unemployment. 

Akaileh added that his bloc has been advocating for a longtime for Jordan to be self-sufficient provided that minimum wage citizens do not bear the  brunt  of the economic reform process.

Akaileh highlighted the importance of promoting public freedoms and freedom of expression, and enhancing Jordan’s political role in the region, especially regarding the Palestinian issue. He also enquired about the plans for the new capital city and the finances assigned to implement it. 

For his part, Mulki said that the government is eager to cooperate with the Lower House and all parliamentary blocs and trust the capabilities of MPs, which influence government decisions.

As for the new capital city, Mulki stressed that this project will be a new investment on state land and will be a gateway for investments in the long-term.

He stressed that the planned city is “not a new capital” and tenders will be fully implemented according to build-operate-transfer contracts for the private sector and the government will not bear any financial cost. The project will be built in five stages starting next year and extending until 2050.

Jordan’s advance towards self-sufficiency requires huge investments, which the new city can provide, the PM said. He expressed his confidence that this project will contribute significantly to finding solutions to transportation problems in Amman.

Mulki emphasised that the government has worked to strengthen partnership with the private sector in the implementation of government projects in accordance with the principle of financial leasing at a value exceeding JD200 million. 

The prime minister pointed out that the reform measures initiated by the government last year contributed to reducing debt rates, adding that there will be a new law tackling tax evasion. 

He also said that the value of government support in the budget of 2017 amounted to JD850 million, which Jordanians and non-Jordanians benefit from.

AMMAN — Tens of Jordanians who attended the Indian Technical and Cooperation (ITEC) Programme joined on Tuesday to celebrate the opportunity and share their experiences. 

Minister of State for Investment Affairs Muhannad Shehadeh, who attended the ceremony, highlighted the importance of the training opportunities, provided through the ITEC programme, to contribute towards capacity building of Jordanian human resources.

Noting that the two countries enjoy “very close” friendship, both politically and economically, he voiced appreciation of further “building blocks” being put in place for the benefit of people in both countries.   

Addressing the attendees, India’s Ambassador to Jordan  Shubhdarshini Tripathi said that ITEC’s main concept is that India believes in “sharing”, including knowledge sharing. 

Its basic philosophy is “The whole world is your family,” she said, reiterating the importance of knowledge-sharing as a capacity building tool.

‘Demand driven’

The fully funded training opportunities under ITEC cover various fields, including IT, English language and business management.  Most importantly, ITEC is “demand-driven”, according to Puneet Ghai, an embassy official. 

Participants can come from both government and private entities who wish to develop their skills, as long as they meet the eligibility criteria. 

This year, 50 slots have been allotted to Jordanian citizens. 

Alumni 

“When I came back, I felt this was one of my most important accomplishments in 2017,” said Rana Obaidat, a Ministry of Telecommunications employee, who returned from India on Sunday. 

Obaidat has completed a two-month IT training in Hyderabad, she told The Jordan Times at the event, noting that it was a great learning experience. 

Additionally, Rula  G. Wardeh Sakkab, a director of a yoga project, who has received ITEC training, said she was pleased to finally find a programme focusing on yoga. 

For Mahmood Salmonah, a Planning Ministry employee, his ITEC training programme was about the Indian experience in developing skills and creating employment.

“Of course, this training reflected on my work. I work in the area of economic and social productivity enhancement projects. Through the training, we got the idea to fund projects that work on skill development.  Instead of funding a supermarket startup, for example, we consider financing a tailoring workshop which focuses on skill development and recruiting women.” 

In India, they work to create job opportunities and train people according to the needs of each area, he added. 

Participants should have some work experience since each programme is tailored for a certain level and the programme builds on previous skills, he noted.

Furthermore, Salmonah spoke about   the “great opportunity to visit a country like India and see a civilisation that is over 3,000 year old”. 

Those who join ITEC “bring back a little bit of India with them” and contribute to the development of relations, which is part of ITEC’s goals, the ambassador noted during Tuesday’s ceremony. 

India took the decision to set up ITEC programme, based on its belief that it was necessary to establish mutual relations that are not only built on commonly held ideals and aspirations, but also on solid economic foundations, according to ITEC’s website. 

More information on the ITEC programme can be found via its website: http://itec.mea.gov.in.