Jordan Today is an Opportunity

Third: Jordan presents itself as a conducive environment for living and investment

Fourth: Jordan is a tourist country

Fifth: A solid, strong banking system, complete freedom in the transfer of funds, and fixed, stable exchange rates

Sixth: A balanced and institutional judiciary

Seventh: Independent and separate institutions and authorities without overlap or entanglement

Jordan has survived, and continues to breathe strongly despite the dark smoke clouds, because it follows a balanced approach and wise policy. In Jordan, the bet is always on human wealth where there are no resources; economic resilience, which was almost born out of nothing, was forged by a regime that reads transformations intelligently, always staying ahead of them by creating shifts, relying on initiative and balance which made it distinctive. Yet, behind every advantage is a hefty price, which Jordan has paid and continues to pay.

Crisis management has created a culture of resilience, and confidence in the ability to overcome difficulties regardless of circumstances and variables.

To look at the picture through a magnifying glass, Jordan's resources are limited, and it pays a generous amount of attention to foreign aid since there are no riches it can rely upon. The pre-occupation of Jordanian families today is to secure decent, permanent job opportunities with suitable incomes for their children.

The opportunity I am talking about lies in focusing on three pillars: tourism as the first, investment as the second, and industry as the third.

In the first, we were and still are calling for more openness and promotion of Jordan as a country that has been able to brush risks aside. In the second, I have always said and still say that the best investment law is the abolition of the investment law itself; all that is required is to set standards for the investor to follow and establish their project accordingly, starting from a small grocery store up to a huge industrial, commercial, or tourism project. Let people build and invest without any impediments, or by following and adhering to criteria that determine what an investor must do when starting their project, so they do not need to obtain dozens of approvals, nor have a committee jump over their head every single sunrise.

As for the third, industry means self-sufficiency, halting the widening gap in the trade balance, adding job opportunities, exports, and hard currency, as well as improving income levels.

I recall that His Majesty King Abdullah II began early in laying the foundations for these pillars, and he is still knocking on the walls of its reservoirs to bring about a qualitative shift, which was later translated into decisions and laws that touched all aspects of economic and social life, in education, investment, the business environment, the judiciary, and others.

We must not fear everything that is new; we do not fear visitors, nor non-Jordanian job seekers, nor do we fear change.