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.