His Majesty King Abdullah asked the government to identify and address the causes of a drop in foreign investments during the first quarter of this year, which lowered Jordan's international investment climate ranking.

“Realising a success in economic development and creating an investment friendly atmosphere is key to helping the country face economic challenges, and enhance development and improve living conditions,” King Abdullah said during a meeting at the Royal Court with Prime Minister Marouf Bakhit and senior government officials.

The King urged the government to accelerate plans to attract Arab and foreign investments and facilitate investment procedures. He added that is was also important to speed up the pace of work on mega-investment projects, such as the economic and development zones in Mafraq and Irbid, as well as plans to develop the east shore of the Dead Sea.

These projects should be implemented “as soon as possible to improve the socio-economic conditions of Jordanians,” he said.

The King also called for more efforts to attract investments in order to help alleviate poverty and unemployment and urged the government to draft a comprehensive strategy to enhance the investment climate in line with a specific time frame and clear mechanisms for implementation.

Prime Minister Bakhit stressed that the government is implementing the King's socio-economic vision and determined to remove obstacles facing investments.