Jordan Times
Tuesday, November 2, 2004
Increased investments, HRD
required to create jobs — Awadallah
By Rami Abdelrahman
AMMAN — Twenty-three per cent of the Kingdom's population will join the labour
force in five to 10 years, which requires increased investments to create jobs
and human resources development, a senior government official warned on Sunday.
Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Bassem Awadallah said the
government continues to promote the country to attract local and foreign
investments in order to provide more jobs and reduce unemployment, which now
stands at 12.5 per cent.
Awadallah said another means of facing the challenge was by developing human
resources in the Kingdom, adding that the government is hiring HRD (human
resources development) consultants to identify training needs and find ways to
prepare Jordanian youth for the future.
“We are not talking about education, higher education and vocational training,
that is not enough. We are talking about human resource development and raising
the capabilities and competitiveness of our youth,” Awadallah told economists
late Sunday during a media forum, organised jointly by the Centre for Defending
Rights of Journalists and Fastlink.
The minister said the government is planning to apply a “numbers of jobs
created” ratio in studying the effect of developmental programmes, to use its
data along with general census data and poverty studies outcomes in identifying
and addressing unemployment and poverty in a more effective way.
He said the government would focus on emerging sectors such as ICT, tourism,
pharmaceuticals, therapeutic tourism, investments in education and textiles to
employ more Jordanians in the future.
“But still, we cannot fully rely on such sectors to employ all job seekers, we
have to look outside Jordan into the emerging Arab Gulf countries like Qatar and
Bahrain to employ skilled Jordanians,” Awadallah said.
According to the Jordan Human Development Report 2004, a defining characteristic
of the country's demographic profile is its youthful character, as more than 31
per cent of the population are between the ages of 15 and 29, and a further 28
per cent are below the age of 15. The total population stands at 5.29 million
according to the census conducted last month
A recent government survey revealed that unemployment currently stands at 12.5
per cent, compared to 14.5 per cent last year, and 21.3 per cent in 1997.