His Majesty King Abdullah said the welfare of Jordanians would remain the top priority of the country's development programmes.

“We are continuously working to alleviate the burdens on citizens resulting from the harsh living conditions,” the King said in a wide-ranging interview with the Saudi Arabia-based Iqtissadia newspaper on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Jordan's independence.

The King told the paper that much has been achieved at the various levels in the past few years, adding the country is still on the path to implement development programmes seeking to revive the national economy, reinforce accomplishments and realize reform plans.

“In the past five years, we have worked on developing legislation and laws that have attracted investors and facilitated their projects in the various sectors,” King Abdullah said.

The King said Jordan, as a small country with limited resources, has no choice but to join the global economy and offer incentives to foreign investment as a means of fostering the national economy and fighting poverty and unemployment.

He said the economy had won the confidence of investors to the extent that last year's terrorist attacks in Amman did not have any adverse effects on the flow of investments into the country. On the contrary, he said, the country witnessed increasing number of incoming investments.

King Abdullah described Jordan's ties with Saudi Arabia as “strong and deep-rooted,” saying they had developed remarkably in recent years and in all fields.

The Jordan Times