His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday attended the launch of the "National Strategy for Employment" and its executive program for 2011-2020, which focuses on helping the youth find suitable jobs.

Prime Minister Fayez Tarawneh said the national economy has generated about half a million jobs over the past decade, but only 60 per cent of those jobs were taken by Jordanians. Despite the huge number of new jobs, the main problem is lack of balance between supply and demand and incentives available in the labour market, the Premier said.

In a speech delivered on his behalf by Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Jaafar Hassan, Tarawneh said the national strategy is based on the outcome of the National Agenda but has specific programmes, objectives and timetable.

The strategy, he added, focuses on recent graduates from Jordanian universities, especially that two-thirds of school graduates enroll in universities, which cater to about 250,000 students, 50,000 of whom graduate annually, with unemployment rate for this group of 26 percent.

He noted that the strategy aims to support programmes designed to provide graduates with funding to carry out pilot projects across the Kingdom as well as establishing start-ups.

With regard to unemployment among individuals who did not pursue a university education and who experience competition from foreign workers in various economic sectors, Tarawneh said that 60 per cent of this group are unemployed. The strategy, therefore, has developed solutions and practical mechanisms to address unemployment by providing and expanding vocational training programmes that allow paid training in collaboration with the private sector.

The strategy, he added, also envisages incentives for employers who hire newly-trained persons and provide necessary funding for the implementation of small projects, professional and business initiatives.