His Majesty King Abdullah said on Thursday that Jordan is making steady steps towards improving economic situation and establishing an attractive investment environment.

King Abdullah told the 5th Jordanian Ambassadors' Forum that much work has been done to heighten the ability to compete and to increase opportunities.

The King said the diplomats' meeting was an effective mechanism for the exchange of views and information and for coordinating work to represent the Kingdom effectively and serve Jordanian, Arab and Muslim interests.

Ambassadors, the King said, are expected to highlight opportunities in the Kingdom in order to attract investment that will in turn improve economic conditions and provide job opportunities for citizens.

Turning to peacemaking efforts in the Middle East, King Abdullah said the Palestinian issue is a top priority for Jordan, and the Kingdom would continue to do its utmost to bring justice to the Palestinians, end the occupation and help them achieve their rights to freedom and statehood on their national soil.

In his address to the forum, Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh said Jordanian ambassadors had sensed the respect Jordan enjoyed across the world and the esteem in which His Majesty is held among world leaders and peoples.

"We are proud to have the honour to represent Your Majesty, which gives us the privilege in the diplomatic work and opens the doors wide for us in all countries where we have representation," he added.

He said Jordan, thanks to the King's leadership, had gained a remarkable standing and confidently taken a pivotal role on the international scene as the Kingdom remained an oasis of security and stability and a model of moderation and modernity.

"Your Majesty has taken Jordan and its loyal people to the world and brought the world and its peoples to us as supporters, partners and friends via a wide net of close ties with various nations, whose relations you have harnesses for the good of the homeland and its faithful people," he added.

Judeh pledged that his ministry would continue to build on Jordan's achievements to rise to the King's expectations and vision.

He also noted that King Abdullah has carried Arab concerns to the world, foremost of which is the Palestinian issue, and has stood firmly in defence of pan-Arab causes and noble human values.

The minister thanked the King for offering foreign ministry staff a plot of land to build a housing complex.

The second day of the forum, in which 52 Jordanian embassies and diplomatic missions are taking part, tackled the country's economic situation, including investment prospects, mega projects, economic woes and the private-public sector partnership in addition to the royal letter of designation, the government's action plan and the overall domestic scene.

The several-day forum, titled, "Jordanian diplomacy: 70 years of achievement and modernisation", will also address a host of other issues, including common Arab and Islamic action, updating Arab League mechanisms following an Arab summit in Libya, Jordan's foreign policy and efforts to solve the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Hashemites' custody of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.

Other topics on the agenda are political issues related to the foreign ministry's role, invigorating the embassies' economic role and protecting the interests of Jordanian expatriate communities.