AMMAN — Representatives of Jordanian investors are rallying
to unify their position vis-à-vis a draft investment law recently released by
the government. The chairman of
Amman Chamber of Industry, Fathi Al-Jaghbir,
chaired a meeting with the heads and members of the boards of directors of the
chambers of industry in the Kingdom (Jordan, Amman, Zarqa, and Irbid) earlier
this week to discuss the proposed draft.
اضافة اعلان
The meeting, Jaghbir told
Jordan News, comes to unify the views
of the chambers of industry in the Kingdom regarding the draft law, and to
confirm the unity of the industrial body when it comes to issues and laws that
affect its competitiveness.
According to him, the proposed draft failed to clarify the investment
environment and does not contain anything related to its development.
There is also “a clear conflict between the action plan for
the development of the legislative environment for investments and the proposed
draft,” he said.
The task of establishing a single window for the
registration and licensing of business activities was assigned to the Ministry
of Industry, Trade, and Supply, while the Higher Committee for the Development
of Inspection was transferred to the
Ministry of Investment.
Jaghbir said that the incentives and benefits given to
investors and to different sectors should be clear and specific within the draft
law.
The proposed bill eliminated existing incentives that were
awarded outside development zones by eliminating production input lists,
production supplies and fixed assets, and incentives within development zones
by changing sales tax from zero to exempted. While this appears to benefit
investors in reality it does not because taxes paid on production inputs will
no longer be reimbursed.
The draft law did not explicitly provide means for granting
residency and citizenships to investors and their families.
Jaghbir also said that the draft law was not in line with
the objectives of the
Economic Modernization Vision, as it did not contain any
provisions relating to entrepreneurial projects, innovation, start-ups, food
security projects, and medium and small enterprises, it merely mentioned
strategic economic activities without specifying what they are.
Also, once the bill is made into law, it will end incentives
in force under the present law, he added. This means that many exemptions
granted under the current law will end.
Managing Director of the
Jordanian Businessmen Association Tariq
Hijazi told
Jordan News that the definition of “investor” in the draft is
unclear.
“The investor was defined by law as anyone who engaged in
any economic activity, which is inaccurate,” he said.
Hijazi added that the proposed amendments do not add value
to the national economy and do not create a lucrative and attractive investment
environment, only give the impression that there is no stability in Jordan's
investment legislation.
He said that business representatives met with a ministerial
group last Sunday to present their proposals and were promised that they would
be considered.
But Chairman of the Investors Association Majdi
Al-Hashlamoun told
Jordan News: “I believe that the new law will be a step
forward in supporting investors and attracting new investments.”
However, he admitted that there are some remarks regarding the
present draft and asked for more clarification of some concepts.
He added that participating in the current discussions on
the draft law and taking into account peoples’ remarks is a positive step
forward, and stressed that the law gives investors incentives, under certain
conditions, and that “in the end, it will be attractive to investors”.
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