1.3.2 Business Environment Jordan has adopted several policies aimed at improving the business environment to attract investments. It also enjoys political, security and macroeconomic stability, excellent infrastructure, qualified human resources, in addition to the legislation governing the investment process. The volume of investments in 2013 was about JD2.2 billion, and they were concentrated in the sectors of industry, tourism entertainment cities, hotels, maritime transportation, hospitals and agriculture. As part of the ongoing efforts to develop the business environment and investment, the government has reviewed and amended several economic and trade legislation, notably those relating to investment, reorganization of the business, bankruptcy, liquidation and activating public-private partnerships, in line with best international practices in this area. Crucial to our trade and investment success is the quality of our local business environment. The volume of investments in 2013 was about JD2.2 billion, concentrated in industrials, tourism and entertainment, maritime transportation, hospitals and agriculture sectors. Nevertheless, as measured by respected international rankings, there is significant need for improvement in the competitiveness of the Kingdom’s business environment. In 2015 Jordan was ranked 117th out of 189 economies in the World Bank’sEase of Doing Business ranking, compared to 116th out of 189 countries in the previous year. Jordan's ranking in the 2015 World Economic Forum's. competitiveness indicators improved by four places to 64th globally out of 144 countries. According to these comparative international assessments, the areas most in need of reforms include investor protection arrangements, the cost of establishing a business, access to credit, the tax system, resolving insolvency and contract enforcement. Figure 14: Jordan’s Performance on the Ease of Doing Business Index Competitiveness ~ Ease of Doing Business Performance World Bank Ease of Doing Business Rankings Performance 2006 spp @ 1 Tend ©3)? swttarant ‘Lithuania C2 como @ 8 ‘Source: World Bank, Ease of Doing Business 2009 Sinzpore @ 5 Trend 7yg Goorin ‘Switzerland ©) 19. 3 a 5 ono Qa wena Singer @ 1 eng) ee Satta iain a3e santiago nanan 51 roam 0 cma in 2ers Sinsere@ + trend 3 deem Sena SD oienia 8 apy Tm ronan eat xtra © As part of the ongoing efforts to develop the business environment and investment, the government has reviewed and amended several economic and trade legislation, notably those relating to investment, reorganization of the business, bankruptcy, liquidation and activating public-private partnerships, in line with best international practices in this area Labor productivity is a second area of critical importance to the overall competitiveness of the economy and an area in which we have achieved significant progress over the past decade. The average private sector worker's contribution more than doubled in value between 2000 and 2013. The biggest productivity increases in the past decade were in the mining sector, with 56% increase, and the finance sector, with 53% increase. Nevertheless, these impressive productivity gains still place us significantly behind the productivity levels of more advanced economies and they have been limited to the private sector. Compared to OECD countries, Jordan performs below all benchmark countries on labour productivity, averaging USS13 of value-added per person-hour worked. This was much lower than, for example, $29 for Turkey, $31 for the Czech Republic, $55 for Switzerland or $71 for Ireland. Productivity is also closely related to the innovative capacity of the economy and the ability to create new and better products, services and business models that meet the market needs. Despite being ranked seventh in the world for the availability of scientists and engineers, Jordan does not generate many patent applications, Jordan ranks below average in its peer group and only average amongst the region on the Global Innovation index. wx