AMMAN - The Ministry of Information and Communications Technology is planning to draw up a revised national ICT strategy along with a respective action plan for the years 2012-16, a top official said Monday.
The strategy, which will be developed in partnership with the private sector, academia and other major stakeholders, will take into account major technological and market changes, internationally, regionally and locally, Minister of Information and Communications Technology Atef Tal told The Jordan Times.
The process to draw up the strategy is expected to start during the fourth quarter of this year, said the minister.
Referring to the country's ICT strategy for the years 2007-2011, the minister said there has been evident progress in the implementation of the strategy.
Internet penetration increased from 11 per cent at the time of developing the strategy to 38 per cent by end of 2010 and direct employment in ICT sector reached about 22,000 by the end of 2009 compared with 16,000 jobs in 2007, Tal said in an e-mail interview .
He noted that the Telecommunications and Information Technology sectors' revenues grew from $1.5 billion in 2007 to $2.2.billion in 2009.
Tal said the IT sector witnessed an average annual growth rate of 16 per cent over the past five years, representing an average growth rate of 15 per cent for domestic revenue and an average growth rate of 27 per cent for export revenue, a matter he said reflects clear maturity and stability in the industry and an increasing trend towards exports.
The minister, who noted that ICT contribution to the total national GDP in 2009 reached 14.1 per cent, said the sector contributed an average of 13.9 per cent to the country's overall productivity and 22.1 per cent to Jordan's labour productivity.
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the IT sector increased by $16 million in 2009, and the cumulative FDI reached $127,586,675 according to the ICT and IT-Enabled Services industry classification and statistics surveys, said the minister.
Citing the studies, the minister said the IT sector contributed approximately 55 value-added services in terms of domestic revenues and approximately 88 per cent value-added exported services, which demonstrates the high value that ICT brings to the Jordanian economy, especially in exports.
© Jordan Times 2011
