Jordan's PM says unemployment is a significant problem in Kingdom and the Arab world

Prime Minister Fayez Tarawneh said that Jordan has invested since its establishment, in human resources and in developing their skills until human capital became one of the state's most important resources. "This reflected on the world's respect to the Kingdom and to its balanced and tolerant manner in managing its public affairs," Tarawneh added during a meeting with Director General of the Arab Labour Organization (ALO) Ahmad Luqman.

The premier said that unemployment is one of the main challenges facing the Arab world and Jordan and stressed the need for concerted efforts to solve this problem.

The prime minister highlighted the need to activate the role of the private sector and national institutions to create job opportunities, especially that the public sector is not capable of providing job opportunities for the unemployed.

The ALO director briefed Tarawneh on challenges facing the Arab labour sector and the impact of the economic crisis on employment.

He said unemployment rate in the Arab world rose between 2011-2012 by 2 percent due to the decline in the number of tourists visiting the Arab region as well as to weak financial markets.

He said the Arab world needs 5 million job opportunities a year to reduce the unemployment rate to half of the current level but it can only provide 3.5 million opportunities now.