AMMAN (JT) - His Majesty King Abdullah on Wednesday stressed the importance of listening to the voice of young Jordanians and taking their views into account, highlighting their role in shaping the future of the country.
"Your ideas are important and we rely on them as the basis for shaping the future of Jordan," the King told a group of young Jordanians representing the youth sector during a meeting yesterday, a Royal Court statement said.
As youths are the largest bracket of the Jordanian community, political parties should develop their programmes to encourage the younger generation to join them so as to achieve political pluralism, the King said.
"We are working, through the development of the political life, to form parties that have platforms built on Jordanians' concerns and future aspirations," he said.
The King voiced hope that the National Dialogue Committee's proposals on the elections and the political parties laws will bring about a Parliament that represents the various brackets of the Jordanian community.
"In Jordan, we have got an important opportunity to form an advanced model of reform for the entire region," His Majesty said.
Also, political reform should go hand-in-hand with economic reform in order to achieve comprehensive development, the King noted.
To achieve this goal, the private sector should work in partnership with the government towards combating poverty and unemployment, he said.
Jordan needs to provide 60,000 new jobs annually, of which the government can only provide 10,000, the King said, noting that a youth forum, slated for the summer, should come out with proposals that help shape up the strategy for the country's future.
The King's meeting with young Jordanians is the third within the past three weeks and it is part of his talks with the different brackets of the Jordanian community on ways to tackle current challenges.
Also on Wednesday, King Abdullah stressed the importance of joining efforts at this stage to safeguard the region's security and stability, noting that economic reform and curtailing poverty and unemployment are the country's main challenges.
During a meeting with a delegation from the European Parliament (EP), the King and the visiting delegation discussed the latest regional developments and means to enhance cooperation between Jordan and the European Union (EU), another Royal Court statement said.
The King briefed the delegates on the country's measures to expedite political and economic reform.
The measures taken seek to boost public participation in the decision-making process and meet the aspirations of all Jordanians, and the young, in particular, the King said.
King Abdullah underscored the role of the EU in assisting the Palestinians and Israelis to return to the negotiation table to tackle all peace issues and arrive at the establishment of a Palestinian state, based on the 1967 borders.
The King commended the Jordanian-EU ties as the Kingdom attained an advanced status within the EU in October which paves the way for expanding economic cooperation.
Also yesterday, the Monarch received a telephone call from Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev during which the two leaders discussed means to boost bilateral relations.
Over the telephone conversation, the King and Nazarbayev also examined other issues of mutual concern.
© Jordan Times 2011
