Parliament starts debating investment bill

AMMAN — The Lower House of Parliament on Wednesday started debating a draft law governing the investment environment, passing a number of articles, including changing the name of the law to “Investment Environment Law for 2022”, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

The legislators also agreed to redefine investment as “starting an economic activity in the Kingdom, including ownership, participation, development, or expansion”.

Before the House began debating the proposed law, the chairman of the Economy and Investment Committee, Khair Abu Sa’ilik, stated that the committee held a national dialogue and solicited feedback from lawmakers and other stakeholders.

In response to the MPs’ comments on the proposed law, Abu Sa’ilik stated that the recommendation to enforce the law 90 days after its publication in the Official Gazette, as opposed to 30 days, does not violate the Jordanian Constitution.

He justified extending the waiting period by saying that a major by-law must be completed before the law can be enforced.

In addition to facilitating business and attracting foreign investment, one of the most important purposes of the bill was to establish a mechanism for resolving investment contract disputes, the applicable law, and locating arbitration in the Kingdom, unless the investor’s contract specifies otherwise.

Addressing the Lower House, Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh said that the government drafted and submitted the investment environment bill to the parliament, denying that the bill was drafted by a foreign company and stressing that the government drafts legislation out of “self-will” in an effort to improve the legislative environment.

In a related development, according to Khaberni News, the House of Representatives said investors who hold Israeli passports will not benefit from investment facilities.