AMMAN —
Ministerof Planning and International Cooperation Nasser Shraideh and the British
Minister of State for Asia and the Middle East Amanda Milling co-chaired the
fourth Jordan Taskforce meeting to follow up on outcomes of the 2019 London
Initiative, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.
اضافة اعلان
The meeting was also
attended by
Minister of Finance Mohammad Al-Ississ, British Ambassador to
Jordan Bridget Brind, and several ambassadors and senior representatives of
donor countries and relevant international finance institutions.
According to a ministry
statement Sunday, the meeting involved two interactive sessions. The first
focused on policy reforms to promote economic recovery, growth and job
creation, and the other addressed the energy and water sectors as two key
sectors to switch to a green economy that is resilient in the face of challenges.
This meeting is part of ongoing efforts to mobilize support from the
international community towards Jordan's economic reform agenda.
Shraideh lauded donors'
ongoing support that is provided to the Jordan Growth Multi-Donor Trust Fund,
which has been instrumental in providing needed technical and operational
support to various ministries and government institutions.
Recently, he noted,
Norway and Germany have contributed to the fund that is currently being funded
by UK, Canada, and the Netherlands. He also acknowledged USAID and other
partners for supporting the government in implementing Jordan’s Reform Matrix.
Shraideh reviewed
challenges and opportunities in the
Kingdom, calling on the international
community to strengthen partnerships to support Jordan meeting its ambitions
for greener and more inclusive growth. He spoke about the importance of
continuing support to most affected communities and sectors from the pandemic,
protecting jobs and private sector, in addition to ensuring that the refugee community
is not left behind.
"We are achieving
economic and structural reforms through the Reform Matrix and Jordan’s
International Monetary Fund program, but we still need support to switch Jordan
into digital and green economy, stimulate public sector investments and keep an
eye on vulnerable population who need different types of support and continue
that work to create more jobs and achieve economic growth," Shraideh
stated.
For her part, Milling
said: "Jordan has demonstrated its commitment to delivering urgent and
impactful reforms, including announcing critical reforms in the energy sector.
It is important to maintain momentum on the steps necessary to deliver
inclusive and sustainable growth and jobs for Jordanians and for Jordan’s
friends continue to support it in doing so. And I am proud that the
UK is at
heart of international support for these reforms."
"We will continue to
help Jordan deliver the ambitious commitments made at CoP26, to increase its
economic stability and to continue to grow and thrive," Milling
underlined.
Ississ in turn gave an
update on the macroeconomic and fiscal framework, highlighting recent fiscal
reforms and its impacts on macro-fiscal indicators, including the progress
achieved within the current framework arrangement with the International
Monetary Fund.
"Despite a
challenging political economy backdrop, the government of Jordan has
implemented a series of significant structural reforms that aim to improve
private sector experience, lower costs of consumer goods through lowering
customs tariffs, and improve transparency."
The meeting also included
comments from representatives of the international community, in which they
offered their support to the government’s efforts and highlighted the important
role that the Reform Matrix has in transforming
Jordan’s economy. Also,
attendees recognized Jordan's progress in implementing economic reforms and
urged support for further reforms which will strengthen Jordan’s stability and
prosperity. Furthermore, participants discussed how best to support Jordan to
deliver inclusive and sustainable economic growth to deliver its priorities.
The Jordan Task Force was
first launched as a result of the London Initiative, which was held in February
2019, during which Jordan’s Reform Matrix (2018–2024) was also introduced,
included a set of structural reforms that aim at boost inclusive growth and
create jobs.
Since then, the Jordan
Taskforce meets regularly to review progress on three fronts including growth
and reform, debt stabilization, and investment. It is also tasked with
following up on the support provided by the international community to finance
Jordan’s reform agenda.
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