Building national competitive advantage is a main priority on any governmental agenda. Therefore the Government of Jordan (GOJ) constructed its own strategy for increased competitiveness according to its national vision of creating a modern economy based on knowledge and successful global integration to unify the language of all stakeholders within the nation.

In this regard, various efforts were undergone to assess the competitiveness -which is not a function of cheap and abundant labor, or possessing bountiful natural resources- of various industries and economic clusters in Jordan. The only meaningful concept of competitiveness at the national level is national productivity; hence both the Jordanian public and private sector assume different yet interrelated roles in creating a competitive economy. Accordingly, the GOJ took on the role of a catalyst and challenger to encourage, or even push, companies to raise their aspirations and move to higher levels of competitive performance since only companies themselves can achieve and sustain competitive advantage. The private sector is starting to take a leading role in creating a dynamic, and challenging environment by upgrading the manner in which it competes.

One of the initiatives adopted by the GOJ in fulfillment of its role as a catalyst and challenger is the establishment of the Jordan National Competitiveness Team (JNCT) in 1997 at the Ministry of Planning, with a mission of building the competitiveness of Jordan. It focuses primarily on the accomplishment of three interrelated and complementary objectives. These are transferring data into knowledge, developing and ensuring a sustainable mechanism for change to enhance productivity and improve the competitive advantage of the domestic economy, as well as creating a competitive mindset.

These objectives are accomplished through JNCT’s main activities, which include studying and analyzing various economic activities at the micro-level to determine their current strategy and designate areas where focused efforts of intervention could have the most impact in upgrading clusters strategies. It incorporates an in-depth assessment of current strategies and market positioning of individual clusters within local, regional, and global markets. The types of linkages between suppliers, buyers, and consumers are also examined as well as the extent of cooperation between competitors to determine the overall competitiveness of each individual cluster. As a next step, JNCT follows up on the private sector issues identified through the conducted cluster analysis, in tandem with the concerned private sector stakeholders, and facilitates building strategies at both the government and cluster level.

JNCT also works on spreading awareness and disseminating information about competitiveness through presentations, and holding seminars with the local industry. In addition to using various media tools (newspapers, journals, TV, radio) and holds workshops to ensure the dissemination of knowledge so as to educate Jordanians about competitiveness and achieve cultural transformation; the key to progress and successful economic development.

In order to achieve cultural transformation, it is crucial to first nurture a "competitive mindset" in Jordan. A competitive mindset is one that welcomes the concept of competition and cooperation at the same time (Coopetition), competently identifies the needs and desires of clients, innovatively develops products and production processes, utilizes strategic thinking to attain an advanced position at a global scale, and adopts advanced regulatory standards in monitoring and assessing the performance of institutions.

Nevertheless, JNCT monitors Jordan’s competitive performance by following-up the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report, WEF’s Arab World Competitiveness Report, and the Institute for Management Development’s (IMD) World Competitiveness Yearbook. The Team worked on analyzing the findings of these reports relative to Jordan’s competitive performance in relation to participating countries. The analysis is then provided to decision-makers to take actions aimed at improving Jordan’s competitive performance. The Team then organizes a national annual meeting involving all stakeholders from both public and private sectors to follow-up on these reports and improve the ranks of Jordan in lagging indicators.

In fulfillment of the Government’s monitoring of the competitive performance of Jordan efforts, the Team has been assigned the responsibility of establishing Jordan’s own competitiveness indicators (i.e. National Index), and developing its own competitiveness observatory aimed at monitoring the competitiveness of various sectors and economic activities. This will provide a wealth of information and data on an annual basis that is then used to monitor and analyze the country’s competitive performance as well as signal sudden changes in various economic activities or trends that may affect Jordan’s overall competitive performance, thus inviting room for action or remedies. In brief, the competitiveness observatory can be a fundamental step to establishing a Center for producing early warning signals at national level.

In spite of all ongoing efforts to build the competitive advantage of Jordan, achieving world-class competitiveness is a long-term goal attained through a long process that requires substantial and continuous efforts to invest efficiently and conjointly, in upgrading the national business environment and company strategies and operations. It is noteworthy though, that the benefits of increased competitiveness cannot be reaped in the form of sustainable prosperity and improved standards of living unless all stakeholders (i.e. public, private and civil societies) are involved in this process of economic development and continuous learning. In this regard, Jordan continues to take giant strides in increasing citizen ownership and responsibility.

Jordan First  II  Political & Socio-Economic  Development  II  
  Competitiveness of Jordan  II  Engines of Growth  II  Privatization  II  
Main Economic Indicators  II  Enhance Productivity Program (EPP)  II
Economic Consultative Council (ECC)