PM holds dialogue session with youth at Mutah University 

AMMAN — Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh on Saturday continued his series of dialogues with Jordanian youth titled "Vision of Modernisation: Youth at the Centre of Attention", holding the second meeting at Mutah University in Karak.

During the meeting with university students and youth representatives of national initiatives from the southern governorates, Khasawneh stressed that the youth are “the cornerstone” of the vision for political, economic and administrative modernisation, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The premier said that the first step in implementing political modernisation is the upcoming parliamentary elections. Some political parties have rectified their status, while others are preparing for this Constitutional entitlement, which will introduce the partisan list system for the first time, the PM said.

He noted that the recent constitutional amendments and the new elections and political parties laws aim to achieve greater participation among youth and women. He pointed out that the participation of youth between the ages of 18 and 35 in the last elections did not exceed 33 per cent, which is low and cannot achieve the desired change. 

He stressed that the Economic Modernisation Vision came as a result of interactions with the private sector, and includes challenging assumptions. These include achieving economic growth rates of up to 5.5 per cent over a period of 10 years, and creating one million jobs by the end of this period

The prime minister presented the key objectives that the vision aims to achieve and highlighted the achievements during the first quarter of this year, mainly an economic growth rate of 2.8 per cent, compared with 2 per cent during the first quarter of last year. 

He also mentioned a 4 per cent increase in national exports and a 70 per cent rise in tourism income, reaching  JD2.8 billion, compared with the first quarter of last year. Additionally there was a 1 per cent drop in the unemployment rate.

The government is approving the national investment strategy and the comprehensive investment service platform, which includes 68 automated investment services, the premier added.