The major changes in the area of
key players in Jordan for the quarter October – December
1999 were: committee actions for the restructuring of the
Ministry of Information; the appointment of a new Secretary
General at the Ministry of Information; as well as the creation
of a twenty-member task force to review economic policy.
1. Ministries and Regulatory
Bodies
- At the end of October, the committee
to restructure the Ministry of Information and media
institutions headed by Minister of Information
Mr. Ayman Majali discussed the future of state-owned
institutions and possible ways to transform them into
independent commercial entities to enable them to enter
2000 revitalised.
The committee's dialogue focused on finding ways to end
the government's monopoly on media institutions like
Jordan Radio and Television and the official news agency,
Petra, and replace it with a board grouping private and
public sector ownership. According to Petra News Agency,
the committee appointed a team to complete the task of
studying the laws and regulations that govern the
Ministry of Information and its institutions.
The ten-member committee was assigned the task of
formulating a strategy recommending and proposing
appropriate legislation to restructure public media
institutions to the government. It includes Mr. Majali,
Minister of Awqaf Mr. Abdul Salam Abaddi, former Minister
of Information Mr. Mahmoud Sherif and other media
institution officials. Meanwhile, another five-member
committee headed by Majali discussed ways of setting-up a
duty free and uncensored media zone to attract
international media into the Kingdom.
According to PM, Mr. Abdur-Ra'uf Rawadeh, the media city
will be a free trade zone to encourage satellite
stations, newspapers, magazines and television and movie
production companies to invest in Jordan. The Prime
Minister appointed the Minister of Information, the
Director General of the Prime Ministry's Legal
Department, the Minister of Justice and the head of the
free trade zone areas to find the suitable approach and
discover all the legal aspects that must be reckoned
with.
- In mid-November, Mr.
Hussein Bani Hani was appointed as the new Secretary
General of the Ministry of Information. His
predecessor, Mr. Eyad Qattan was appointed to the Prime
Ministry as an Advisor.
- Through the issuance of a
royal decree on Dec 13, King Abdullah announced the
creation of a twenty-member task force in order to review
the economic policy facing the new era. This body, named "consultative
economic council", will convene under the
presence of PM and will encompass key cabinet members and
private and public sector experts, such as the Minister
of Planning - Mrs. Rima Khalaf and the General Manager of
Citibank in Jordan - Mrs. Suheir Debbas.
2. Telecommunications Operators
According to a report issued in
early October by JTC, a committee has been formed in order to
deal the Y2K problem. Mr. Mohammad Khasawneh is the Head of JTC
- Y2K committee. A steering committee was also formed to
develop an emergency plan regarding the millennium bug. The
Chairman is one of JTC's board members and it is also comprised
by seven deputies of the General Director and the Project
Advisor. All the development will be done by seven working
groups.
