World Bank: Jordan makes progress in economic and environmental reforms and investment promotion

As part of the government's efforts to improve the investment environment and enhance Jordan's attractiveness for investments, the Kingdom adopted the Investment Promotion Strategy for 2023-2026 and launched an investor relationship management system at the Ministry of Investment, which attracted and registered more than 300

investors, contributing to the development of investment promotion services, simplifying procedures, and enhancing the efficiency of following up on investment decisions.

Preliminary data from the system, according to the World Bank, showed positive indicators regarding new investment decisions and investments that commenced operations after benefiting from facilitation services, reflecting the role of these services in supporting investors and enhancing opportunities to turn investment decisions into operational projects.

As part of the government's efforts to develop the business environment and reduce regulatory burdens on companies, Jordan has completed the simplification of 5 priority sectoral licenses, while efforts continue to develop 7 additional licenses. In the field of developing government and statistical data, Jordan has made notable progress in data availability and statistical performance quality indicators, as its score in the Open Data Inventory (ODIN) rose from 66 points in 2022 to 78 points in 2025, according to the report's executive summary. The statistical performance index also rose from 66.5 points in 2020 to 78.1 points in 2024, an indicator reflecting the development of the national data and statistics system and the enhancement of its efficiency.

As part of the government's efforts to develop public services and accelerate digital transformation, the National Services Registry was implemented in 20 government entities, and more than 1,500 service cards were made available through the "Sanad" portal, providing citizens with clear information about service requirements and procedures for obtaining them. Efforts also continue to simplify priority government services and redesign their procedures and digitize them, contributing to improving the quality of services, facilitating citizens' access to them, and raising the efficiency of government performance.

Reforms also included developing procedures for preparing legislation and assessing their economic and regulatory impacts, following the issuance of the Good Regulatory Practices Regulation in February 2025 and the related instructions in November of the same year, with the aim of enhancing reliance on data and public consultation when preparing policies and legislation.

The program's evaluation report showed that Jordan achieved tangible results in reducing carbon emissions, exceeding the set targets, in addition to making progress in implementing reforms related to green finance and improving the investment environment, while the total funding disbursed under the program reached $939 million.

The program has made progress in developing green finance tools, simplifying sectoral licensing procedures, and enhancing the efficiency of public investment management and government services, an achievement that reflects the government's continued implementation of reforms aimed at improving the business environment and supporting economic and environmental sustainability. The World Bank also raised its assessment of the overall progress in implementing the program, while efforts continue to complete the remaining targets before its closing date in June 2028.

The program achieved a prominent milestone in supporting national efforts to reduce carbon emissions, as World Bank data showed a cumulative reduction exceeding 7.8 million tons of CO2 equivalent during the period from 2016 to 2025, exceeding the original target, reflecting the progress made in implementing environmental measures and strengthening the sustainability path in Jordan.

Regarding climate finance, Jordan succeeded in achieving the set target for documenting funding provided by the private sector and non-governmental entities, recording a 25 percent progress, while the completion rate for the financial value allocated to the indicator reached 98 percent, reflecting the progress made in enhancing the role of the private sector and non-governmental entities in supporting climate action efforts.

This coincided with the adoption of the National Green Taxonomy, which identifies activities and investments eligible as environmentally friendly, the Green Sovereign Bond Framework, and the completion of its independent external review which received the highest possible rating, in addition to adopting a debt management strategy that includes green bonds among potential financing tools.

The completion rate of the value allocated to the green finance mobilization indicator reached 78%, while the issuance of Jordan's first green sovereign bond is still under preparation, after completing the main procedures necessary for its issuance, as the World Bank expects the bond to be issued during 2026 or 2027.

Climate reforms also included updating the National Climate Change Policy, operating the Measurement, Reporting, and Verification (MRV) system for emissions and the National Greenhouse Gas Registry, preparing a roadmap for regulating and managing climate finance, and working on developing legislation regulating carbon markets.

The completion rate of the value allocated to the climate-responsive public investment integration indicator reached 83 percent.