Neighborhood and community safety is also an important issue for families and communities, and a vital factor for maintaining the confidence of local businesses and foreign tourists alike. One of Jordan's great strengths is its comparative advantage as a safe and tolerant society in the middle of a troubled and volatile region. Jordan is considered by the international community to be a relatively stable society, providing citizens with a general sense of safety in public spaces, and making Jordan a more attractive location for foreign direct investment, particularly in comparison to other countries in the region. According to rankings assembled by the World Economic Forum, Jordan is strong in the areas of public safety, performing well on dimensions such as the business costs of crime and violence (#16/148), organized crime (#13/148), and the reliability of police services (#43/148). Road safety stands out as a particular area of concern for the Kingdom. Jordan has one of the world’s highest rates of road fatalities, suggesting that urgent attention is required to create safer roads and neighborhoods for Jordanian families. Part of the solution must also be a change in driver attitudes and behaviors on our nation’s roads. Figure 11: Mortality Rate due to Traffic Accidents Est ROAD SAFETY ated road traffic death rate per 100,000 population Saeed eka aed Saees Hinge) Pope Grats tae Gog Ta Urey etc KA On Source : World Health Organization 1.3 Business 1.3.1 Trade and Competitiveness As a small economy, our ability to be a successful exporting nation is fundamental to our future prosperity. Our domestic population and domestic economy is too small to provide the jobs and the growth we require to provide the quality of life Jordanians aspire to. Jordan has many competitive advantages including as a strategic location at the intersection of three continents (Asia, Europe and Africa) and within the Middle East region between the GCC and the Levant. It also boasts a stable political climate and strong relations with neighboring countries and the world and has established a position as a strategic supplier of highly-skilled human resources for the GCC market. The private sector and Jordanian business leaders have proven their ability to compete at the regional and international levels. While there are many success stories we can be proud of, more needs to be done in order to strengthen the competitiveness of Jordan’s business environment as a basis for export success and as a hub for regional headquarters and investments by foreign investors. As shown in the figure below, despite significant growth in foreign trade during the past five years in absolute terms, export share of GDP declined from 48% in 2004 to 42% of GDP in 2014. The ratio of Jordan's exports to GDP is low compared to other similar countries. wu AN