Remarks by His Majesty King Abdullah II At Entrepreneurship Forum “Entrepreneurship Jordan”

Friends,

I am delighted to be here with you today, and to take a small part in this forum that seeks to promote initiative, excellence, and productivity.

I would like to thank you Leith, and all your colleagues at YEA for arranging this Forum. I would also like to express my gratitude to all our distinguished friends who have come from afar, to be with us during this important three-day event.

I understand that you will be focusing your discussions on creating the right kind of environment for promoting Jordan as a hub for Entrepreneurship. I very much look forward to receiving the conclusions and recommendations of your deliberations.

In this context, I would like to briefly mention the following points:

• Our country is still classified as a low middle-income-developing nation, gradually shifting from a factor-driven to a more of an investment-driven economy. This means that our global competitiveness is now being measured by our ability to improve the efficiency of skill-based production of goods and services.
• Still, we are the only country in the region that has demonstrated positive economic performance, despite the regional political uncertainty and conflict. This competitive advantage is a result of the comprehensive reform strategies that were adopted a few years ago, and that are now being implemented, all aimed at stimulating growth.
• We are lagging behind, however, in terms of micro economic performance, and we all know that it is at this level that wealth is created. Company operating practices, the quality of inputs, and the skills of the labor force are the needs for ensuring competitiveness.
• To deal with this, we must ensure that while we strive to maintain macroeconomic stability, there is a need to encourage productivity growth at the micro and sectoral levels, and this can only be done through education, openness, initiative and innovation, subjects that will be capture in your discussions today and tomorrow.
• During the next few weeks, I shall be challenging our young dynamic private sector to take the lead, in identifying sector strategies, and specific plans in IT, tourism, manufacturing, healthcare and automotive industries. I shall promise in return to dedicate my meetings in Davos, in Malaysia, in the United States and elsewhere, to secure that they get the right audience and that they have a chance to establish the needed partnerships to raise the productivity of these sectors.
• Your meetings will certainly assist them in drawing up these strategies, and in focusing all our minds to help encourage a new culture of entrepreneurship. It is this call for action that will help achieve our vision for a better future for all Jordanians.

Thank you.