An estimated 236,000 Jordanians currently work in Saudi Arabia, 170,000 in the UAE and 70,000 in Kuwait. While the Jordanian expatriates in the region and the world can contribute to national development, sustainable long term economic development cannot be built by having a large number of the nation’s ‘best and brightest’ work abroad and replacing them with unskilled foreign workers who. transfer their savings outside the country. The first priority of our national education system and labour markets should be to provide meaningful opportunities for Jordanians to work in Jordan. In addition to improving the performance of our education system and the efficiency of our labour markets, we must also address the desires and aspirations of youth and their parents. Most importantly, social attitudes towards vocational jobs need to change and the incentive system between public sector and private sector employment needs to be fundamentally re-evaluated. The government continues to the employer of both the first and last resort for the majority of Jordanians. Consequently, there are over 250,000 people on the Civil Service waiting list for a public sector position because of the perception of the public sector offering a more attractive and secure package to many young job seekers. To change this reality, Jordan's private sector must be the primary engine for growth and job creation for Jordanians. Too many of the private sector jobs created today are filled by foreign workers rather than Jordanians. Young people should be encouraged to work in vocational professions and the private sector should be the most desired place to work. Our education system needs to focus on equipping our youth with vocational skills and, as they enter the workforce, our youth need to be encouraged and enabled through a more transparent and level playing field when they apply for vacant positions. New market matching mechanisms need to be accompanied by hiring practices that reinforce a broader cultural change away from wasta and towards meritocracy, because perceptions about wasta are entrenched across the labour market today. 1.2 Social Outcomes The measurement of social outcomes is a relatively new but increasingly recognized and expanding field internationally. Citizens and policy makers are increasingly interested in looking beyond the traditional measurements of wealth (e.g. GDP and poverty) to broader and more holistic assessments, such as social cohesion and notions of wellbeing and life satisfaction felt by individuals and communities. The state of our society today can also be assessed througha set of criteria, such as the rule of law, justice, social inclusion and marginalization. 1.2.1 Rule of Law Belief in, and widespread social adherence to, the rule of law is fundamental to the confidence, stability and proper functioning of any society and state. In broad terms, Jordan’s judiciary is seen to be relatively independent but needs capacity building. According to World Bank indicators, contract enforcement is a particular area of weakness negative impact on local and foreign investor cot that must be addressed as a priority because of its Figure 9: Rule of Law Rule of Law "the Weld an ‘Note: Scores rane fom 0 Low evel of achievement) to 1 ‘Source: Bertelsmann Foundation 14 Doing Baxiness Report In recent years, progress has been made in strengthening the country’s fight against corruption and building up the capabilities of the national integrity institutions, as evidenced by Jordan’s performance on the Transparency International corruption perceptions index 2014. In terms of international comparison, Jordan is perceived to be less corrupt than most countries in the world, including several EU member states such as Hungary, Bulgaria and Croatia. This is of course no room for complacency and Jordan 2025 includes measurés to continue to strengthen the national integrity system in the fight against corruption. The broader social challenge for the Kingdom will be building a genuine culture of respect and compliance with the rule of law in everyday life. Many Jordanians have become accustomed to using wasta and social connections to short-circuit official procedures. rn AG