The Economic
Modernization Vision (EMV) 2033 came about through the wide consensus of over
500 experts, including active government ministers and public sector leaders.
As such, only through the genuine cooperation of all Jordanians can it be
implemented and achieve the expected outcomes.
اضافة اعلان
EMV 2033 is not unique; there are similar projects
around the region. It faces challenges similar to those of the Saudi 2030 and
the Omani 2040 visions, and creates comparable opportunities. Yet, very few
Jordanians believe that it will be implemented, according to a recent survey by
NAMA Strategic Intelligence Solutions of a nationally representative sample of
over 1,500 respondents, 150 journalists, and 151 private sector business
owners.
To change, or at least improve that public
perception, we, all Jordanians and institutions, have to look at the past 13
initiatives taken since 1990 and learn the lessons if the political, economic,
and administrative reform plans that were produced in 2021-2022 are to succeed
this time.
Initial account points to the most important factor
to achieve reform initiatives: “belief” in it. All public and private
institutions, including the executive body entrusted with the implementation of
the EMV, should “speak vision” and “act vision”. It is not enough to be a
“lip-service” reformer; all ought to be transformative reformers, in discourse
and deed. Such approach should run through the veins of bureaucracy to prevent
discontinuity, strengthen institutionalization of the vision implementation,
and build robust and adaptable monitoring, evaluation, and learning mechanism.
The second most important thing is to ensure the
government’s ability to secure and/or facilitate financial resources through
investment and access to finance. The pathway to realize the EMV investments is
through a solution-oriented mindset, with those entrusted with its
implementation needing to show innovative imagination. This “process”, if and
when developed consensually with competent rank and file, should produce the
expected outcome because it should, not because it could come under some
scrutiny.
Lack of, or weak, belief in reform is the most
important challenge, because the rest of the challenges either stem from it or
will be exacerbated by it. Furthermore, a team committed to the vision should
work to mitigate the challenges, rather than let unchecked and appeased
bureaucracy overtake and cloud the vision.
Bureaucracy in the public sector is a heavy truck on a bad road. It is known for investing in inventing ways to come up with unnecessary delays, with the politics of doing things becoming more important than doing things.
Expectedly, some of the government representatives
who participated in the 14 groups that produced the vision were rather edgy,
defensive, and at times contended that they had it all figured out. For some of
them, the exercise was seen as time that could have been spent more usefully
elsewhere. They missed one point here. If they had it all figured out, the
vision would not have been needed in the first place. They have become too
comfortable, with no proper accountability when it comes to the challenges of
the unemployed, and the weak economic and investment growth.
To its credit, the Ministry of Planning and
International Cooperation (MOPIC) has been leading the effort on behalf of the
government. The government/MOPIC formed committees in the past few months for
sectors, headed by secretaries general or equivalent, to draw plans for
implementation. The challenge associated with these committees is mainly
protracted bureaucratic inefficiency. Bureaucracy in the public sector is a
heavy truck on a bad road. It is known for investing in inventing ways to come
up with unnecessary delays, with the politics of doing things becoming more
important than doing things.
In view of this, His Majesty King Abdullah said that
the government must do what is expected, and not only what it expects will be
inspected. That requires ensuring tech-enabled systematic implementation with
talented, dedicated, problem-solving, exposed and solution-oriented individuals
with positive attitude. We simply cannot afford to see EMV derail or fail.
The bottom line is that without government leaders
who believe in and are committed to the implementation of the economic vision
2033, it can never succeed and we will be back here again in another two or
three years, with even bigger economic problems to solve, and we will have a
bigger problem attempting to change the disbelief in any public initiative.
Fares Braizat is chairman of NAMA Strategic Intelligence Solutions [email protected]
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