Jordan may as well be a million miles away for most of us but there are thousands of Americans living and working in the country right at this moment. How lucky they are. One of Jordan’s greatest treasures is Petra, located in the mountains in the south of the country, a vast unique city carved into the sheer rock face by the Nabataean Arab people who settled in the area more than 2000 years ago. Not surprisingly, the ancient city, sometimes called the “Lost City”, is Jordan’s top tourist attraction and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It was featured in the 1989 Harrison Ford classic adventure film “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”. Remember it?
Understandably, at least initially, Americans and other expatriates will likely be concerned about opening current and savings accounts in Jordan as opposed to enjoying its ancient antiquities. After all, they’ll need a safe and secure place to stash away their hard-earned salaries. The sights and sounds can all come later, once they’ve found their feet. Luckily, Jordan has a modern banking system, so taking care of the money in a sensible fashion shouldn’t present much of a problem.
Companies from all around the world have set up in Jordan because of its open economy and the extensive trade links which connect it to markets in the rest of the Middle East and the wider region. Perhaps one of its greatest assets is its people, considered to be amongst the most welcoming, hospitable and generous to be found anywhere. It’s a reputation the country is rightly proud of. Jordanians are also highly educated and tech-savvy.
According to the Jordanian embassy in Washington D.C., more than two-thirds of the population are under 30 years of age. Jordan invests more than 20% of its GDP in education and training and has the highest per capita R&D spending amongst the 57 countries which make up the OIC, the Organisation of Islamic Conference. As a result, Jordan produces more IT graduates each year than any other country in the region and has the highest ratio of bilingual Arab-English speakers in the world. So it’s hardly surprising that they are much in demand, particularly by foreign companies looking to set up in the country.
However, times have been difficult over the last couple of years because of fallout from the Arab Spring and the on-going civil war in neighboring Syria. This has led to some tough economic conditions particularly with regard to unemployment which has been rising and falling tourism numbers. Egypt’s on-going political and economic woes have severely impacted gas supplies from the country resulting in an extra $2 billion annual burden on the Jordanian economy. The growing influx of refugees from Syria has further strained already limited resources.
The Jordanian embassy adds, “As the bloodshed in Syria escalates, Jordan greatly values the coordination with the US, and US assistance in dealing with the repercussions of this conflict, most notably the huge influx of Syrians crossing into Jordan to flee the violence – more than 430,000 by early March 2013. Jordan will continue to work with the US towards limiting the dangers of a regional spill-over of this conflict, bringing an end to the bloodshed and restoring peace and security to the Syrian people.”
Read the full report, “Jordan Challenges and Opportunities”, here.
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interesting post,but my belief is that we have no business over there interfearing with them,,we have enough here to worry about an deal with,,all foregin money should be spend helping americans who need it