Private sector wants real, not superficial, planning role

AMMAN –– The private sector wants to be involved in the Kingdom’s long-term economic development plan the government is working on in response to directives by His Majesty King Abdullah. 

Representatives of the sector warned they will not play a superficial role in the plan, stressing that they should be real partners in economic decisions as they are the largest  contributors to the state treasury. 

Concluding a two-day dialogue session on Tuesday to discuss the letter King Abdullah sent to Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour late March, leading economists, former decision makers and businesspeople urged the government to draw up a clear 10-year goal-oriented plan for the economy. 

During the session, hosted by the Amman Chamber of Commerce (ACC), participants issued a number of recommendations, which they said would lead to a stronger economic performance. 

“Addressing budget constraints should not be the only focus of government decisions, but also employment and the development of governorates should be taken into account,” the participants emphasised, calling for more stability in legislations in order to protect local and foreign investments. 

Recommendations announced by ACC President Issa Murad  called on the government to stop competing with the private sector for financing from local banks as such demand, according to them, pushed up "sharply" the cost of loans for private companies. 

They also stressed the need to establish a development bank in cooperation with the private sector to extend long-term loans at affordable interest rates. 

According to the experts, the government should work on cutting the size of the public sector by 2 per cent annually so spending on government salaries would be down by 20 per cent in 10 years. 

Improving the transportation infrastructure was also among the recommendations, besides underlining the importance of linking higher education with market labour needs. 

The participants urged supporting the agricultural sector to be able to meet domestic food consumption and lower the cost of imports. 

The participants made tens of recommendations, among which was also the need to cancel some independent government agencies and to merge some with other entities that perform relatively similar duties.