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AMMAN — Social Development Minister Hala Lattouf on Sunday said that achieving justice and equal opportunities between men and women is one of the main pillars of the Kingdom.

Deputising for HRH Prince Hassan, chairman of the Higher Council for Science and Technology, Lattouf inaugurated the sixth annual scientific conference. During the event, Lattouf said that despite Jordan’s commitment to empowering women, it still faces challenges in addressing the gap at the economic and political levels.

She also referred to the greater role that women play in society, even after the political and social circumstances that impact their opportunities in empowerment and effective participation, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

AMMAN — Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Freihat on Sunday received Minister of Agriculture Khaled Hneifat over proposals that concern the army in building cooperative relations with the ministry, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Also on Sunday, Freihat met with Amman Mayor Yousef Shawarbeh and Thabet Al Wir, chairman of the board of directors of the Kingdom Investment Group, over possible cooperation between the army, the Greater Amman Municipality and national institutions, Petra added.

AMMAN — Civil Defence Department (CDD) Director Maj. Gen. Mustafa Bazaiah on Sunday met with his Palestinian counterpart Maj. Gen. Yousef Nassar and an accompanying delegation, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

They discussed the mutual cooperation between the two departments in the field of developing training to upgrade the level of field performance for the Palestinian Civil Defence (PCD) personnel.

Nassar praised the CDD’S efforts in training PCD personnel at the CDD Training City. Bazaiah stressed that the CDD is prepared to provide all the support to the cadres. 

AMMAN — Health Minister Mahmoud Sheyyab said that the value of medical exemptions for the first half of the year has reached around JD126.264 million, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Sunday.

Sheyyab told Petra that the medical exemptions are given to Jordanian patients who are not provided with medical insurance by the Royal Court and the Prime Ministry, depending on the diseases and cases and based on medical reports that are received from specialised doctors.

The minister noted that during the first-half of the current year, almost 75,000 exemptions were offered in the Kingdom’s hospitals according to the medical condition, and that medical services were also provided in the sectors where treatment is referred. He also noted that the exemptions were given to treat cardio, kidney and neurological diseases.

AMMAN — Head of the Lower House Foreign Affairs Committee MP Raed Khazaaleh on Sunday met with the Iranian ambassador to the Jordan, Mojtaba Ferdowsi, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

They discussed bilateral relations and means of enhancing them in all fields, especially the parliamentary sphere. Khazaaleh stressed the role of parliamentary relations and the mechanisms of implementing them in a way that benefits both parliaments and the two countries.

AMMAN — To raise awareness about the Palestinian cause, a Swedish activist has embarked on a 4,800km walk from the Swedish city of Gothenburg to Jerusalem.

The journey that Benjamin Ladraa began on August 5 is expected to last for a year as he passes through Germany, Austria, Slovenia, Turkey and Cyprus and to Palestine. 

“I wanted to raise awareness about Palestinians, spread some information about the occupation and the situation there. I did a lot of manifestations before; I've  been on hunger strikes and many different things. I got the idea that if I walk there people might pay attention,” Ladraa told The Jordan Times over the phone, on his way to Prague last week.

“I’m pretty stubborn and pretty determined. The difficult part is not the fiscal walking, but the solitude every day, it is very difficult of course, and I’m struggling. It's is not easy,” he said. 

The pain of the Palestinians, the injustices and the discrimination they face prompted Ladraa to start the journey, he said. 

“The Palestinians are suffering a lot, and they deserve freedom because everybody deserves freedom.” 

Ladraa said he preferred to walk rather than choosing any other form of protest because “it would be a pretty good way to get attention, to do something unusual and a little bit strange, carrying the Palestinian flag is a way of promoting the cause”, he said. 

Ladraa says that the solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict comes from the people. “I believe that politicians and international organisations follow the direction where the wind is blowing; and we the people, are that wind. If we unite and demand the world we want, all the leaders and politicians will follow us,” he added. 

For the activist, it is not the first time to independently fight for a cause, he organised a hunger strike in Gothenburg to show solidarity when 1600 Palestinian political prisoners were on hunger strike in Israeli prisons.

“I do believe that we have to be creative and not do the same thing over and over when we engage in these struggles,” he added. 

The trip has planned to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Balfour Declarations, and Ladraa hopes to meet with people to spread the message, according to his Facebook page.  The trip is promoted on social media under the hashtag #WalkToPalestine.

AMMAN — The Social and Economic Council has launched a detailed and analytical study that went through the most important regional developments and events between 2011 and 2017, and their direct and indirect impacts on the national economy.

The study reviewed regional developments and their repercussions on the actual gross domestic product, (GDP) actual income per capita, monetary policy, public expenditure and foreign currency reserves, Al Rai Daily published on Sunday.

In the recommendations, the study called for a strategic, predictive policy in terms of regional events, in a way that challenges can be changed into opportunities, and suggested raising the level of competitiveness of the Jordanian economy through making it more flexible in dealing with external events.

It also recommended focusing on development through establishing new entrepreneur projects and supporting them in a way that helps them survive.

The study showed that the economic growth went through many changes between 1993 and 2016, showing that the GDP grew by 5.3 per cent between 1993 and 1995, which followed the return of Jordanians after the second Gulf war.

The return of around 200,000 Jordanians from Kuwait in 1992 resulted in a 14.3 per cent decline in the economic growth rate, before starting to invest their savings in the Kingdom.

In the 1996-1999 period, growth rates went down due to Israeli procedures towards the Peace Treaty with Jordan, and the killing of German tourists in Aswan, Egypt, which contributed to a decline in tourist revenues in the Kingdom.

Between 2000 and 2003, the growth rate stood at 4.9 per cent, before registering further growth rates after the third Gulf war and the influx of rich Iraqis into Jordan and contributing to an “important growth era” that lasted to the third quarter of 2008.

The growth rate in 2005 stood at 8.6 per cent, and registered an 8.1 per cent increase in each of 2006 and 2007 as a result of Iraqi investments and the movement of donor headquarters into the Kingdom.

In 2012, the growth rate registered a decline of 2.3 per cent, due to a drop in foreign investment rates and the impact of foreign events on the national economy.

The study showed that the impact of the Syrian crisis on Jordan started with the entry of 100,000 Syrians to Jordan and the decline in the commercial exchange volume by half, especially that 40 per cent of Jordanian exports used to pass through Syria.

On the actual income per capita, the study showed that population growth between 2011 and 2016 reduces the rate of actual growth rate of GDP.

The income per capita started to decline with the beginning of the “Arab spring” and worsened with refugee influxes, rise in energy prices and border closures with Syria and Iraq.

As for the monetary policy related to the public expenditure, the report reviewed the item through three stages; the first between 2005 and 2007, which witnessed an increase in GDP and government expenditure, where the growth rate stood at 8.14 per cent and expenditure rate at 13 per cent. 

During the 2008-2010, the financial credit and Egyptian gas crises started contributing to decreasing the growth rate to 5.3 per cent, where the government reduced expenditure by 8 per cent.

The 2012-2016 period witnessed the start of an economic deflation, where government expenditures rose by 3.3 per cent and the GDP registered a growth rate of 2.59 per cent.

As for the public debt, it witnessed a drop in 2008, and Jordan increased its domestic loans by JD2,059 million in application of its policy that aimed at avoiding foreign loans.

Between 2009 and 2011, the government increased its lending, especially from internal sources, where the debt went down by 15 per cent, before registering an annual increase in the public debt of 13 per cent between 2011 and 2016.

As for foreign currency reserves, the study recommended the government to acquaint the public with the concept of foreign currency reserves and its relation with imports and the safe period of covering the costs of the Kingdom’s imports.

As for the tourism sector, the study highlighted the importance for the government to benefit from the country’s stability, referring to the government’s relative success in reducing negative impacts of the Syrian crisis on tourism in Jordan.

Regarding the energy sector, the study noted that due to the continuous decline in international prices of energy, the government has to review local prices that include many taxes.

Also, the study showed that addressing high costs of energy lies in diversifying energy sources, especially through using solar energy. 

In terms of jobs and unemployment, the report said that granting Syrian refugees work permits will contribute to alleviating the negative impacts of refugee crisis in the national economy.

As for the inflation, the study said that it is not a bad thing by its own, but when its occurrence with deflation in economic activities means that all people will feel annoyed because their incomes will not help them follow the same level of consumption. 

On foreign trade, Jordan has to create alternative courses for countries it exports to and imports from, and has to engage in trading products of high added value. 

The Kingdom has also to be ready for reconstruction projects in Syria and Iraq, which will boost exports to these two countries.

AMMAN — “I want to save up Amman’s collective happiness through this piggybank,” said Paola Farran, a Canadian artist featured at the Amman Design Week.

A 1.85-metre-high design piece made of a mosaic of ceramics, The “Gojo” symbolises the diversity of the Jordanian society, while aiming to spread happiness among people who come across it, according to Farran.

“It all started at home. We had a small piggybank where, instead of putting money, we put our happy thoughts,” she told The Jordan Times at the crafts centre, adding: “We would then come together to read them and share a happy moment with the family.”

Scaled up to a much larger size, the piece is currently exhibited at the Zain Cultural Centre, inviting visitors to write down their happy thoughts and insert them through the small open slot. 

“I have seen such a diversity of people who come and write: children, adults, couples, travellers, locals... A woman even asked me to write her happy thought for her because she was illiterate,” the artist recalled.

She said that she designed the Gojo as an exploration of the cultural and human diversity in Amman and also to bring people together by focusing on positive attitudes.

Designed like a traditional piggybank, the piece stimulates people to stop and think about what “makes them happy”.

“People tend to want to write wishes, but I insist on them writing down something that makes them happy,” Farran noted, adding: “It can be anything: a person, a place, a feeling. Someone once wrote ‘Nutella’ and I loved it!”

So far, over 5,000 happy notes were inserted into the Gojo, and Farran expects the number to grow much higher by the time the exhibition ends. 

“I have plans to move the piece to another public space once the design week stops, so that this happiness wave keeps flowing,” she said, adding: “I know that I won’t revolutionise the society, but I can at least make an impact for a short period of time and draw smiles on people’s faces by reminding them what makes them happy.”

AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah on Friday received a phone call from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, during which the King congratulated Abbas for the national reconciliation signed recently.

The agreement between Hamas and Fateh was sealed in Cairo on Thursday.

For his part, Abbas expressed his appreciation for the Kingdom’s efforts in presenting continuous support for the Palestinian people at all levels, according to a Royal Court statement.

Rival Palestinian factions Hamas and Fateh signed the reconciliation deal after Hamas agreed to hand over administrative control of Gaza, including the key Rafah border crossing, a decade after seizing the enclave in a civil war.

The deal brokered by Egypt bridges a bitter gulf between the Western-backed mainstream Fateh Party of President Abbas and the Islamist Hamas.

AMMAN — Director of the Middle East and Central Asia Department at the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Jihad Azour on Saturday said that financial reforms the Jordanian government is implementing are part of a programme it prepared to achieve financial and economic stability.

Azour told the Jordan News Agency, Petra, that the IMF-supervised programme aims at achieving tax reforms and a more established ascending order of tax levies and expanding the taxpayers base.

Increasing the number of taxpayers seeks to alleviate burdens off the shoulders of the vulnerable segments of society and achieve more benefits, the IMF director noted, adding that certain economic sectors should not be affected by the fiscal correction process. 

Azour added that he has recently held several meetings with officials, in addition to other meetings between IMF and government officials, on the progress made towards achieving reforms, especially at the financial level, according to Petra in its Friday report.

The IMF wants Jordan to change its tax system to increase the number of taxpayers, citing that 95 per cent of Jordanians are not paying income tax.