His Majesty King Abdullah on Monday stressed the importance of activating the partnership between public and private sectors.

Meeting with representatives of various business sectors, King Abdullah said such collaboration was crucial to propel the national economy and guarantee its development in a manner that would reflect positively on citizens' standard of living.

He underlined the need to work with the government in order to arrive at a programme that would boost economic activity and requested that specific proposals be presented for implementation in the upcoming stage.

During the meeting, attended by Prime Minister Nader Dahabi, discussions covered means to develop Jordanian economic performance and to activate partnerships with the private sector on the basis of well defined programmes.

Participants also discussed challenges to the economy as a result of the global financial crisis and the economic recession, the effects of which have been minimal, according to businessmen.

Businessmen affirmed the soundness of the economic situation and commented on the need for practical steps to build a real partnership between the public and private sectors.

They also discussed ways to propel specific sectors such as tourism and energy.

Dahabi stressed the government's efforts to eliminate obstacles to the private sector's participation in megaprojects.

During the first three quarters of this year, some monetary indicators were positive. The Central Bank of Jordan's foreign currency reserves rose to $10 billion, 30 per cent higher than the figure recorded during the same period of last year.

Liquidity went up by 3 per cent to JD19.5 billion and deposits at banks grew by 8.3 per cent to JD19.6 billion whereas some macroeconomic indicators dropped in the first nine months of the year.