Head of the Privatization Evaluation Committee Dr. Omar Razzaz was JBA’s Economic Forum guest speaker on Sun . June 15th 2o14 at Land Mark Hotel . He addressed JBA Board Members, Businessmen and JBA guests on the out come of the committee’s report and findings and the impact of the report recommendations on the future development and restructuring of the Jordanian economy . IN his welcoming speech HE Mr. Hamdi Tabba’a asserted the importance of the work of the Committee in response to the directives of H.M. King Abdalla II to the Government to learn from the past experience in order to avoid future mistakes as H.M. directed the Prime Minister on March 2014 to form this committee . He added that there was a lot of controversy in the Jordanian society regarding the privatization program , but we should learn from our mistakes in order to be successful in the future .
Dr. Razzaz pointed out that the Committee did not aim at ending the controversy surrounding the transfer of some state-owned properties to the private sector, but to present facts to the public. He said that the committee based its assessment of the privatization process on facts and figures as well as a thorough examination of a large number of documents related to the privatization process that started over two decades ago.
The committee was formed in March last year, upon a Royal directive to Prime Minister Abdullah Nsour, comprising a group of local and international experts in the field of economic and social policies who were tasked with assessing privatization policies and transactions.
The report reviewed the privatization of 19 companies which used to be owned by the government in the fields of mining, telecommunications, aviation, water and electricity.
He pointed out that there were some legal violations in some of the transactions, particularly in the phosphate company deal as officials at that time followed direct negotiations with one investor without inviting tenders from various investors.
However, Razzaz said that the privatization program had also boosted the performance of the companies and created more jobs for Jordanians.
He said that the report criticized the transfer of the government’s shares in certain sectors, especially in mining and cement, According to the panel’s chairperson, revenues generated from privatization reached JD1.7 billion, of which around JD1.5 billion went to paying the Kingdom’s debts.
He stressed the importance of building on the outcome of the committee report by utilizing its results in drawing up economic strategies, and boosting the partnership between the public and the private sectors.
He then reviewed the main findings and recommendations of the report and answered to the participants questions and inquiries.
