AMMAN — An international report has found that micro and small
businesses in Jordan have felt the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic, relying
on a survey of roughly 2,000 small enterprises from February and March of this
year.
اضافة اعلان
A meeting at the
United Nations Development Program (UNDP) took
place on Tuesday to announce the findings and discuss a year into the pandemic
and how Covid-19 has impacted Jordanian enterprises.
Members from the UNDP, the
International Labor Organization (ILO),
and Fafo Institute for Labor and Social Research joined ranks to produce the
report, which was a follow-up of a similar document issued at the onset of the
pandemic in April 2020.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the Jordanian
government, UN partners, and experts to analyze the hardships encountered by
small enterprises as well as recommendations and solutions for the future of
the businesses to “build forward.”
The report found that one in five enterprises grew in debt, and
the greatest economic burden was rent followed by social security and payment
of invoices.
The findings also showed that four out of 10 enterprises surveyed
confirmed they laid off one or more employees, and rather than shifting
business models and introducing new strategies, they managed just to stay
operational, overlooking proactive resolutions.
At the panel, Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship Ahmad
Al Hanandeh highlighted the importance of the sharing economy as 21,000 people
were employed by delivery companies in Jordan during the second wave of the
pandemic.
Hanandeh placed the onus on Information Communication Technology
(ICT), which is the heart of economic change and digitalization, explaining
that the experience of the pandemic, "made it clear that digital
transformation is not an option; it is something that needs to be done. It is a
way out, a way to support the economy… fight corruption, create jobs, [and] satisfy
citizens."
Hassan Al-Omari, secretary-general of the Ministry of Trade and
Industry, Ahmad Shawabkeh, advisor to the General Federation of Jordanian Trade
Unions, and economist Jawad Al-Anani, all agreed in their remarks that the
pandemic greatly worsened the labor market.
"Even prior to the pandemic, many enterprises faced a
challenging business environment, and these challenges were only further
exacerbated during this crisis. We must continue to work closely with the
government and our partners, including the private sector, to promote programs
and responses which address these structural challenges so that businesses and
their workers can emerge stronger from the pandemic," said the ILO's
Country Coordinator for Jordan Frida Khan.
The structural changes focus on protecting workers by promoting
productive and freely chosen employment, restructuring to support enterprises,
incentivizing investments in human resources, and strengthening public-private
dialogue.
"The aim of all of this is really to advocate economic
recovery post-
COVID-19. To advocate policy measures, both at the level of labor
and social protection, and the inclusion of companies that are informal to make
sure that they have pathways to formality. From a UNDP perspective it's really
about making sure that the negative impacts do not impact livelihoods, we want
to make sure that the employment market is still a dynamic market, and evolving
market," said Ramzi Maaytah, a specialist in growth and livelihoods, in remarks
to
Jordan News.
Maaytah added that the public-private dialogue process is
paramount in ensuring there are no inequalities, “related to women's
unemployment, making sure that we include the micro and small enterprises in
the measures that the government wants to adopt. We want to elevate the voice
of this community, of this business community through a series of
recommendations that can be either a response recommendation or policy
recommendation.”
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