Local

AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania on Wednesday met with the founder of “Go Local, Support Local,” an initiative that aims to create awareness about the importance of supporting local industries and re-injecting money back into the Jordanian economy.

Representatives from the different sectors supported by the initiative also attended the meeting, held at the Fann Wa Chai Café in the capital’s Jabal Luweibdeh neighbourhood, according to a statement from Her Majesty’s office.

Queen Rania asserted the importance of employing the energy of young people and their creativity to support and empower local industries, projects and talents.

Noting that the initiative plays a vital role in increasing consumer confidence in local products, Her Majesty expressed her support for its goals and efforts.

Luma Qadoumi, founder of “Go Local, Support Local,” explained that the initiative mainly supports businesses, services and start-ups, farmers and producers, community-based organisations, as well as artists and musicians.

By supporting local enterprises, the initiative channels money back into the local economy, thus creating more jobs, the statement said.

It also aims at diversifying opportunities for local employment and stopping the brain drain by helping local entrepreneurs survive, pushing local businesses to outperform foreign competitors, and creating a connection between consumers and businesses.

The initiative employs both traditional and social media to raise awareness about its mission and promote its goals, according to the statement.

Using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, billboards, magazines, TV spots and various online campaigns, the initiative seeks to reach the largest number of people across the Kingdom.

During Wednesday’s meeting, the other attendees talked about their work and the challenges they face, as well as the successes that they are proud of.

They also discussed ways of building on their accomplishments so as to include as many beneficiaries as possible.

AMMAN –– The total value of shares bought by non-Jordanian investors at the Amman bourse last year almost tripled compared with 2012, official figures showed Wednesday.

According to statistics released by the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) on its website, foreign investors bought shares valued at JD939.5 million in 2013, while their purchases stood at JD322.9 million in 2012.

Non-Jordanian purchases last year represented around 31 per cent of overall trading at the bourse, the ASE said in its report, indicating that the value of shares sold by foreign investors amounted to JD792.6 million.

In 2012, the value of shares bought by non-Jordanians represented 16.3 per cent of overall trading, while they sold shares worth JD285.3 million.

The ASE said that Arab investor purchases in 2013 stood at JD818.5 million, or 87.1 per cent of the overall purchases by non-Jordanians, while the value of non-Arab purchases amounted to JD121 million, constituting 12.9 per cent of the total purchases.

Arab investor sales amounted to JD693.2 million, 87.5 per cent of the total sales by non-Jordanians, while the value of non-Arab sales stood at JD99.4 million, representing 12.5 per cent of the total sales by foreigners, the data revealed.

Non-Jordanian ownership in companies listed on the ASE by the end of 2013 represented 49.9 per cent of the total market value, 35.5 per cent for Arab investors and 14.4 per cent for non-Arab investors.

At the sector level, foreign ownership in the market capitalisation of listed companies at the end of last year reached 54.9 per cent for the financial sector, 30.5 per cent for the services sector and 52.3 per cent for the industrial sector, according to the ASE.

AMMAN — The Cabinet on Wednesday decided to cut down fuel allocations for public vehicles by 25 per cent this year to be added to the 25 per cent cut endorsed last year.

The Council of Ministers also decided to accelerate the implementation of a decision it had previously taken to replace public vehicles powered by large engines with more fuel-efficient ones, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The Cabinet tasked the Finance Ministry with delivering quarterly reports on public departments’ abidance by these decisions, while all ministers are scheduled to present plans within a week on how their ministries will implement these procedures.

In addition, the Council of Ministers reviewed the recommendations of the Economic Affairs Committee on installing GPS devices on public vehicles, delegating ICT Minister Azzam Sleit to contact the Royal Jordanian Geographic Centre and examine the possibility of implementing this project in cooperation with the ministries of transport and public works and the General Supplies Department.

Installing GPS tracking devices will help in regulating the usage of public vehicles and save fuel consumption, according to Petra.

The government bought fuel worth almost JD5.4 million for its fleet of cars from gas stations belonging to the Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company (JPRC) during the first nine months of last year, according to JPRC figures.

In remarks to The Jordan Times in November 2013, JPRC CEO Abdel Karim Alaween said the refinery’s gas stations are not the only suppliers of fuel for public sector vehicles, as Total Jordan and Manaseer fuel stations also provide the fleet with 90- and 95-octane gasoline.

Alaween said fuel expenses of government cars during the first three quarters of 2013 saw a 1 per cent drop in terms of value, compared with the JD5.5 million fuel bill between January and September in 2012.

But in terms of quantity in litres, consumption went down by 17 per cent, he noted.

According to the Audit Bureau, there are approximately 20,000 public sector vehicles.

Spending allocations for these vehicles, including fuel and maintenance, exceeded JD83 million in 2011, according to bureau estimates.

Also during Wednesday’s meeting, the Cabinet reviewed the achievements of the Governorates Development Fund between 2011 and 2013 and requested a report from the fund identifying the shortcomings and suggesting methods to redress them by increasing spending on productive projects and supporting the governorates as soon as possible.

AMMAN — The International Quartet for Middle East Peace is committed to maintaining coordination and contact with Jordan, its representative, Tony Blair, said Wednesday.

At a meeting with Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh, Blair said the Quartet appreciates the Kingdom’s efforts in achieving peace and stability in the region.

Judeh reiterated that Jordan views the establishment of a Palestinian state on the pre-1967 border with East Jerusalem as its capital as one of its higher interests as it is the case for Palestine.

The Kingdom is concerned with all final status issues in the peace process because they are all related to vital Jordanian interests, the minister stressed.

Judeh and Blair reviewed the results of US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to the region in an effort to push Palestinian-Israeli peace talks forward.

They discussed the outcome of his meetings with the Palestinian and Israeli sides and his talks with His Majesty King Abdullah.

Judeh reaffirmed Jordan’s support for all efforts to advance the peace talks.

The two officials agreed on the importance of working to ensure the success of these negotiations, highlighting the role of the Quartet in this regard.

AMMAN — Jordan deems protecting its higher strategic interests a top priority, especially those pertaining to final status issues between Israel and Palestine, His Majesty King Abdullah said on Wednesday.

During a meeting with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Amman, the King said Jordan supports the Palestinians’ legitimate right to establish an independent and viable state on the 1967 border with East Jerusalem as its capital in accordance with the related international resolutions, the two-state solution and the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.

His Majesty stressed the need to safeguard the rights and interests of the Palestinian people in the ongoing peace negotiations with Israel brokered by the US.

Abbas briefed King Abdullah on the course of the peace talks and the meetings with US Secretary of State John Kerry.

The meeting is part of the two leaderships’ coordination efforts, particularly during this “delicate” stage when the Palestinians and Israelis are developing a negotiating framework with the support of the US, according to a Royal Court statement.

For his part, the Palestinian president voiced his commitment to continuing coordination with Jordan and acquainting it with the latest developments in the negotiations.

Abbas commended King Abdullah’s efforts to urge the international community and stakeholders to support reaching a comprehensive and just solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

In a statement following the meeting, Abbas said his meetings with the Monarch would continue as usual, particularly in light of Kerry’s visits to the region.

“We are exchanging opinions with His Majesty about ideas presented to us in order to unify the Jordanian and Palestinian stances…,” he noted.

Also on Wednesday, Palestinian and Jordanian lawmakers expressed their rejection of any transitional, partial or temporary agreements that harm the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, especially the refugees’ right of return.

AMMAN — Development partners from 18 countries and the EU on Wednesday agreed that the January 15 Kuwait II Pledging Conference for Syria should encompass support for critical development efforts to complement the humanitarian response to the crisis in Syria and its spill-over impacts on neighbouring countries, according to a UNDP statement.

The meeting in Amman, which brought together "partners with long-standing experience and knowledge of the region, and UNDP country directors from Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq and Turkey, endorsed UNDP’s Development Response in support of people and communities affected by the Syrian crisis in those five countries".

The conflict in Syria has rolled back human development achievements by 35 years, leaving more than 50 per cent of the population (12.6 million people) living in poverty, 9.3 million in need of humanitarian and development assistance and 6.5 million displaced from their homes, the statement said.

It has also forced 2.3 million people to flee Syria into neighbouring countries, where 80 per cent live amidst host communities, severely impacting municipal and social services, such as health, education, sanitation, housing and socio-economic infrastructure.

The resilience-based development approach supports communities in Syria and neighbouring countries to cope with immediate needs emanating from the crisis, to recover from its impacts and to sustain recovery and build stability over the longer term, according to the UNDP. It preserves development gains and supports social cohesion, which is necessary to prevent conflict and achieve stabilisation within countries.

“The approach we are taking fosters greater coherence across the humanitarian and development dimensions of the response to the crisis,” UNDP Administrator Helen Clark in her address at the meeting.

“It enables the scaling up of investments and national development process at this very critical time,” she added.

The resilience-based development approach recognises the innate capacities and resourcefulness of people and communities. It focuses on sustainability, reducing likelihood of future conflict and empowering affected people, communities and institutions to emerge stronger from the crisis than before, the statement said.

UNDP country directors presented concrete examples of a resilience-based response already under way as part of their programmes, such as availing emergency employment and capacity building for micro, small and medium enterprise growth in Jordan.

At the Kuwait conference, UNDP is appealing for funding for its sub-regional resilience-based development programming in the order of $166 million with allocations of $45 million in Syria, $56 million in Lebanon, $32 million in Jordan, $11 million in Iraq and $23 million in Turkey, the statement said.