After the First Economic Consultative Council concluded studying and adopting the majority of the recommendations that resulted from the first retreat, His Majesty called for a second retreat at the Dead Sea on 31 March 2001. Participants agreed on the need to develop strategies on the following topics to achieve sustainable economic and social development:
- First pillar: Agriculture
- Second pillar: Administrative reform
- Third pillar: Investment
- Fourth pillar: Community culture
- Fifth pillar: Human resource development
- Sixth pillar: Governorates development
The Economic Consultative Council re-convened on 23 April 2001 and the King charged the council with the responsibility of preparing national strategies on the mentioned topics. The council would also act as a liaison for negotiation and cooperation among the various national private and public economic actors in different fields.
His Majesty issued royal directives to form a steering committee stemming from the Economic Consultative Council to take charge of the following tasks:
- Follow up on the implementation of Economic Consultative Council recommendations and to work as a coordinator between the council and the government in recommendation implementation
- Define the subjects that should be proposed to the Economic Consultative Council
- Act as a liaison between the council and economic and social civil society commissions
- Explain the subjects that the council is studying and recommending through the media
Six committees branched out of the Economic Consultative Council; each committee is specialised in one of the six mentioned pillars.
