His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday stressed the importance of listening to the voice of young Jordanians and taking their views into account, highlighting their role in shaping the future of the country.

“Your ideas are important and we rely on them as the basis for shaping the future of Jordan,” the King told a group of youth sector representatives during a meeting Wednesday.

As youths are the largest bracket of the Jordanian community, political parties should develop their programmes to encourage the younger generation to join them so as to achieve political pluralism, the King said. “We are working, through the development of political life, to form parties that have platforms built on Jordanians’ concerns and future aspirations.”

The King voiced hope that the National Dialogue Committee’s proposals on the elections and political parties laws will bring about a Parliament that represents all segments of society. “In Jordan, we have an important opportunity to build an advanced model of reform for the entire region.”

Political reform should go hand-in-hand with economic reform in order to achieve comprehensive development, the King noted. To achieve this goal, the private sector should work in partnership with the government towards combating poverty and unemployment, he said.

Jordan needs 60,000 new jobs annually, of which the government can only provide 10,000, the King said, noting that a youth forum, slated for the summer, should come out with proposals that help shape up the country’s future strategy.

The King’s meeting with the youths is the third in the past three weeks and comes as part of an intense outreach to all sectors on ways to translate aspirations for reform.