Special to AG-IP-News Agency 

AMMAN – The Jordan Chamber of Commerce has launched the ‘Secretariat for Institutional Dialogue between Public and Private Sectors for the Consulting Sector’, in a special ceremony, under the patronage of H.E. the Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply, Mr. Yousef Al Shamali, in the presence of  HE Dr. Talal Abu-Ghazaleh, founder and chairman of Talal Abu-Ghazaleh Global (TAG.Global) as guest of honour. 

During the ceremony, Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh stated that the launch of the Secretariat for Institutional Dialogue, the first of its kind event; comes  in line with the directives of His Majesty King Abdullah II for strengthening the partnership between the public and the private sectors, emphasizing the important timing of the event in view of the difficult economic conditions the world is currently experiencing. 

Dr. Abu-Ghazaleh stressed the need for a real public-private partnership, calling for creating a consulting  control system with a clear goal administratively and financially. He also emphasized the importance of licensing the consulting activity under the umbrella of a professional association that is subject to regulations and policies that govern and regulate the profession and the practitioners' affairs.

For his part, Minister Al Shamali said that the government is keen on empowering the management consulting services sector to play a significant role in improving the industrial manufacturing processes and their outputs to be able to enter and compete in the global market. 

He, further, pointed out that the contribution of the services sector – which includes the consulting sector – to the national economy has reached up to 66%, at about JD21 billion in 2021, while the financial services, including insurance, real estate, business services and consulting contributed around JD6 billion.

“Although there is no accurate data on the contribution of the consulting sector to the national economy, the importance of consulting services has increased as the local economy opens up to global markets,” Al Shamali said, adding thet “Such contribution has enabled the development of new products, mainly in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)."

It is worth mentioning that the Secretariat aims at achieving the pivotal role of Jordan’s Chamber of Commerce, as well as, influencing the formulation of economic policies affecting the services sector by introducing a new model in consultation with the public sector; based on principles and standards consistent with international practices and by facilitating institutional dialogue.