The House of Deputies affirmed that the Jordanian citizen is the country's dearest asset that represents the means and the end of development.

"Qualifying the Jordanian citizen, developing his skills, unleashing his creative potentials and providing him and his family with proper health care are all basic elements to complete building a modern Jordanian state, said the House's reply statement to the speech from the throne read out before His Majesty King Abdullah II by House Speaker Abdel Hadi Al Majali on Saturday.

The statement also affirmed the House's keenness to maintain the highest degree of cooperation with the government to help build the Jordanian model of an Arab Islamic state. The 110-member House stressed the necessity to direct economic development plans to help create a real change in people's lives, reflect positively on standards of living and curb the increasing unemployment rate and relieve the effect of poverty.

"Creating a true sustainable development can never be realized without bringing in big investment to the country...and in this we are still at the beginning which makes it imperative to make a qualitative leap in government policies and procedures to attract more foreign investment," said the statement.

The statement hailed the King's diligent efforts at all levels to end occupation of Iraq and establish an independent Palestinian state.