Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply and Minister of Labor Youssef Shamali said that unemployment is a national concern and everyone should shoulder its responsibilities to address it. “The imbalance in the education outcomes, and their misalignment with the labor market is the main cause of unemployment ,” Shamali said in the high-value industries dialogue session within the “A Year on Modernization” government forum, held at the King Hussein bin Talal Convention Centre at the Dead Sea, to mark one year since the launch of the Economic Modernisation Vision (EMV) and the public sector modernisation roadmap. The government has taken many measures aimed at finding solutions to unemployment, which include the commencement of graduating students in accordance with the labor market requirements. He pointed out that there is a demand from parents to enroll their children in vocational and technical education, but this faces the lack of capacity in schools, indicating that vocational training centers have been opened to address this. Shamali mentioned the national employment program, for which JD30 million were allocated. The program has, since its inception ,secured jobs for 25,000 workers, 35 per cent of whom are females, with the aim of supporting and empowering women economically, in addition to allocating a share to the National Aid Fund beneficiaries. The Minister of Industry stated that the national exports amounted to JD4.5 billion during the first half of this year, describing as “unprecedented” the growth achieved by 2.3 per cent compared to the same period last year. He pointed to the launch of a national strategy for export (2023-2026), which aims to enhance the export capabilities of Jordanian companies to various markets and covers commodities and services sectors, which leads to an increase in exports and maximizing the benefit from agreements signed between the Kingdom and many countries and economic blocs and opening markets, in addition to launching the Jordanian exporter platform to enhance access to export market information. Shamali pointed out to solutions put in place by the ministry to overcome the challenges, including the development of the Kingdom’s 2023-2025 industrial policy by the end of next month.
Source: Jordan News Agency