His Majesty King Abdullah II affirmed that Jordan has achieved in the recent a great progress in the field of economic and Jordan forged a head in economic reforms and drafting necessary legislation to attract foreign investment.



King Abdullah reviewed during his meeting with media, communications, banking, financial, and economic activities, alongside with American officials from ministries of foreign and Finance steps taken by Jordan to achieve political and socio-economic development with positive impacts on life of citizens.



"Jordan continues developing its democratic process and works in firm steps to carry out its reforms programs, to create a lucrative economic environment to integrate with global economy," the King reiterated.



"Jordan has achieved qualitative steps in the recent years in economic domain, reviewing steps adopted by government to improve investment climate in Jordan", King Abdullah indicated.



"Jordan's economy is distinguished by giving private sector a great role to further its contribution in the economic
progress and creating working opportunities", King Abdullah affirmed adding that the true economic growth in the first six months in Jordan goes beyond 7 per cent and this growth was achieved by true economic sectors as tourism, industry, services, and constructions, the King's remarks came in the meeting attended by Royal Court Minister Samir Al Rafai, King's Advisor Aqel Beltaji, Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Bassam Awadallah.



Jordan's exports maintained an increase during the first ten months of this year stood at 43 per cent compared with same period of last year. Jordan's foreign debts cut down by 190 per cent from gross products in 1989 to 120 per cent in 1999 till it stood at less than70 per cent in the current year, King Abdullah said.



Jordan's budget deficit fell to 3.9 per cent this year, affirming that Jordan's Reserves from hard currency rose to reach $4.8 billion compared to $100 million in 1999 which shows monetary stability in Jordan, King added.



King Abdullah said that Jordan facing challenges in finding work opportunities for Jordanian youth which needs to set up plans and programs help create training, education and rehabilitating opportunities.



King Abdullah reviewed the projects implemented by Jordan as knowledge based economy development project, yielding an essential role for private sector, providing legislation and structural environment to attract foreign investors with positive impacts on Jordanian economy and creating work opportunities for Jordanian youth alongside with profitability for investors.



The King talked about the existing opportunities before private sector to benefit from privatization program to invest in
water projects.



The industries intended to be exported can benefit from traits of worldwide free trade agreements Jordan concluded with the US and Euro-Jordanian Partnership in the fields of pharmaceutical industry and IT.



King Abdullah affirmed that finding a lasting, balanced and final solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict on the one
hand and to the Arab-Israeli conflict on the other is the only way to rid out of the whirl of violence and put an end to the terrorism and extremism so that regional economic development can proceed.



Time element is very essential and crucial for establishing a viable Palestinian state, the King said stressed the need to make use of the available opportunity to speed up realizing this objective.



"As my father the late King Hussein has always affirmed that establishing the Palestinian state would guarantee security to Israel which should live in integration with all countries in the region spanning from the ocean to the gulf," King Abdullah told his audience.



The King called upon all Iraqis to participate in the coming elections as there has been an international consensus on the necessity to create the appropriate atmosphere that ensures fair and transparent elections. The participation of all Iraqi spectra would ensure a better and more promising future for Iraq.



Vice Chairman of U.S. Goldman Sachs company Robert Hormitz paid tribute to His Majesty King Abdullah's role in the
Arab region and his wise policy to enhance regional cooperation, describing him as a brave leader in his strong resolve to achieve progress and reform for the best interest of the Jordanian people.



Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Basem Awadallah, who is accompanying the King on the visit said His Majesty the King, wherever he goes, is always keen on meeting business leaders whom we think are interested in bringing in investment to Jordan.



Speaking about economic growth that Jordan has seen over the past few years, Awadallah said there specific areas where foreign investors can find big investment opportunities in Jordan.



He said His Majesty the King gave special attention to infrastructure projects, water projects and for the King investment in the education sector was a top priority. Over the past four years the Jordanian government has received funding either in form of grants or soft loans to build new schools, develop e-learning, computerizing school syllabuses and to introduce English language to primary education starting from grade one.



Jordan's achievements in these areas will be presented to a special meeting held on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, that will be hosted by Jordan on 20th May bringing together education ministers from the Arab world and major industrial countries, Awadallah said.



Jordan's educational experiment will also be discussed by those ministers during a conference held in Morocco by Forum of the Future on Dec 10, he added.