NAIP mobilises for 'intense dialogue' on increasing investments in Jordan

AMMAN — Up to 200 private sector representatives are expected to take part in a local conference that will look into means to increase investments.

Scheduled to be held on November 17, the first International Conference for Investor Protection will bring Jordanian and foreign investors together with government officials to look into challenges facing the private sector and means to increase investments, organisers said Tuesday.

Organised by the National Association for Investor Protection (NAIP), the conference will discuss investment issues in the fields of industry, transportation, logistics, health, education and renewable energy, said Mohammad Halaiqa, NAIP chairman of the board of trustees and former minister of industry and trade, at a meeting with the media.

Participants will include representatives of banks, industry and commerce chambers and media outlets, he added, noting that the conference aims to come up with "detailed" recommendations that investors and the government agree upon, in order to develop the investment environment in Jordan.

"The conference will also discuss the effect of the recently endorsed investment and public-private partnership laws," Halaiqa said.

He added that the two laws create "a new phase" for investments in Jordan,  and  have positive aspects but can be improved further after "intense dialogue" between investors and the government.

Mohammad Abu Hammour, NAIP vice president of the board of trustees and former finance minister, underlined the country's need for a boost in real economic growth, which can be achieved by adopting investment-appealing policies.

"Jordan's natural population growth stands at 2.2 per cent, but with other growth rates that came at around 5 per cent last year… this means that Jordan's real economic growth rates, which now stand at 2 per cent must reach 7 per cent in order to sustain the current living standards," he explained. 

Abu Hammour said Jordan must work on reviewing laws and facilitating procedures governing investments, highlighting the need for implementing mega-projects and boosting the partnership between the private and public sectors.

NAIP President Akram Karmoul said the Kingdom should benefit further from its geopolitical location as a safe country in the middle of a region of turmoil.

He added that the association, founded in 2002, aims to provide exceptional services to investors in Jordan and to protect them from commercial and non-commercial risks, in addition to its role in promoting investment opportunities in the Kingdom.