Year 2004 was stellar year for Jordan’s economy. The Gross domestic product (GDP) grew at more than 6%, the highest since 1992.
Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) grew by JD5.2 to JD13 billion, a 67.7% jump. Exports surged 43%, 27% of exports, about $1 billion, was to the US, primarily from the Qualifying Industrial Zone (QIZ). The Construction sector grew by 19.9% and manufacturing by 15%. Real estate appreciated more than 35%, in some neighborhoods land prices have doubled. The tourism sector is showing strong recovery, with hotels reporting more than 70% occupancy rate. The instability in Iraq, Iraqis conducting business from
Jordan, surge in foreign investments and the relentless efforts by his majesty and the government all contributed to this strong economical performance. 2005 showing signs it will be even a better year.
Jordanian ICT delegates return to the Bay Area
Burlingame (CA)- Jordanian delegates from nine ICT companies visited the Bay Area as a follow up to His Majesty King Abdullah's visit last April. The visit aims at promoting Jordan's ICT sector as part of int@j's global outreach mission. “This year will be a landmark
year for promoting Jordanian ICT companies globally,” said int@j CEO Bilal Abuzeid, who headed the delegation. An IT forum at the Marriott- Burlingame was hosted by the Jordanian Embassy and H.E. Mr. Kamel Ayoub, the honorary consul of Jordan. Furthermore, Mr. Zaid Ayoub, the Master or Ceromeny, emphasis the need for establishing an affiliated office for Int@j here in the Silicon Valley. The trip also included a visit to Yahoo! where delegates met for one-on-one talks with the Yahoo! Management and founders.
Congress considering more aid to
Jordan
AMMAN (Petra) — The Bush administration asked the Congress to allocate $461 million for Jordan in economic assistance for 2006.
During a meeting with His Majesty King Abdullah in Washington, Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Appropriations Jim Kolbe (R-Arizona) said the representatives are currently considering earmarking $200 million in aid to the Kingdom, in addition to the already approved $456 million for this year, according to Petra. Meanwhile, Senator Thad Cochran (R-Mississippi), who chairs the Senate Committee on Appropriations, stressed that the Congress will continue to support "pioneering initiatives" launched by Jordan. King Abdullah reiterated that Jordan was determined to go ahead with its development and reform plans, stressing that the ultimate goal of such plans is to improve the living standards of Jordanians. The King highlighted the importance of US assistance in achieving that goal.
JAA elects new board
Upper row: Bassam Twal, Joe Ayoub, Mazen Fakhouri, Joel Haddad (President), Firas Sweidan and Basim Nimri. Lower row: Ibrahim Dababneh, Victoria Eissa, Walid Nimri, Azmie Madanat and Rami Batarseh. The new board got their hands busy with many
tasks for the year 2005. Among which, renovation of exterior of the building, replacement of windows, establishing Arabic school, fund
raising events, and much more.
Egghunt 2005
Elena was able to find only two eggs in this year’s egg hunt. Although she worked relentlessly hard to find another, she did not succeed. Nevertheless, she was quite satisfied going home with a yellow and a blue egg. Elena is only 2 years old, yet she
was able to compete with 60+ kids from the JAA community in this year’s egg hunt. Once again, the egg hunt this year was a great success; it was fun, exciting and enjoyably noisy. Next year Elena vowed to bring home a lot more eggs, she is also looking forward to seeing a lot more kids from the JAA community in next year’s egg hunt..
Women & JAA
For a while now we have been trying to get the women to participate more at the JAA. Aside from a women’s night, there are many ideas can be implemented for women by women. For example, invite speakers about women related issues: art, health or business.
We would like to hear from you, if you have any ideas that might help in jump start these activities, please call Victoria Eissa at 415-235-1391.
This year’s Events – mark your calendar
What
Where
When
Poker tournament
Center
April 23, Saturday
Mother’s day
Luxor restaurant
May 8, Sunday
Father’s day
McNear’s beach
June 19, Sunday
21st year Banquet
Marriott Burlingame
Jordanian Flag description:
Three equal horizontal bands of black (top), representing the Abbassid Caliphate, white, representing the Ummayyad Caliphate,
and green, representing the Fatimid Caliphate; a red isosceles triangle on the hoist side, representing the Great Arab Revolt of
1916, and bearing a small white seven-pointed star symbolizing the seven verses of the opening Sura (Al-Fatiha) of the Holy Koran; the seven points on the star represent faith in One God, humanity, national spirit, humility, social justice, virtue, and aspirations; design is based on the Arab Revolt flag of World War I.
Copyrights, 2005. All Rights Reserved. www.jaasf.org
The Jordanian American Association Newsletter
