(MENAFN - Alghad Newspaper)

Early into the year, the Strategic Studies Centre published a report on the challenges facing Jordan in 2017 and the expected outcomes, entailing recommendations by experts and specialists who partook in the preceding workshops and sessions.

The report was entitled 'Jordan Agenda 2017: Policy-Making in the Uncertainty Phase.

Ahead of 2018, the Centre has been working on another agenda, entitled 'Jordan 2018: Thinking Outside the Box.

Inarguably, Jordan is facing a variety of unconventional changes and developments, economically above all, both domestically and externally. The economy is Jordan's number one challenge, I would say.

Last year's report was neither comprehensive nor detailed. Despite all our efforts to project changes in domestic policies, economics, social and cultural shits, let alone regional and international transformations, but it was mostly unpredictable. We were able, somewhat, to predict Trump's decisions on Jerusalem, outline Saudi regional policy shifts, the end of ISIS's apparatus and its degradation from de-facto state to gangs and urban warfare.

However, we were also able to outline developments in the Syrian crisis as well, in terms of how it's re-centring around the Southern parts. In regards to bilateral relations with Israel and the US, were also able to point to its deterioration in light of the expected declarations.

Economically speaking too, were able to project from the 2016 economic discourse on the issues of indebtedness and deficits, not to mention the agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Subsequently, we were also capable of laying out the possible economic and fiscal implications of the IMF's recommendations, generally.

For next year, though, we must pay more attention to the economic aspects of the upcoming phase, the options and means to attain the goals of economic progress. This also entails differentiating between the fiscal and economic aspects of our crisis.

We, as Jordanians, welcome 2018 with ambiguity and an array of mixed feelings. We are worried about the unmet challenges of our reality, on one hand, given the staggering weight of our economic and fiscal crises, and proud of having made it through the obstacles of this year alone, intact, let alone the years past.

Jordan's stand against US President Donald Trump's decision brought to blinding light the Arabs' state of deterioration, regionally. Meanwhile, we're proud to be such a model for progress, stability and steadfastness in the midst of all this chaos.

For the first time, we're only discussing self-reliance policies, which is a leap for Jordan.

Domestically speaking, there are great and unprecedented challenges ahead.

We need an official mind-set with the strategic farsightedness to pull us through the storms of 2018. We need officials who believe in reforms beyond the shadow of a doubt. Who bear, with dedication and commitment, the responsibility of success and progress, fuelled by a vision and clarity that makes the challenges of tomorrow comprehensible and approachable. We need statesmen who engage thoroughly in workshops, prefacing the 2018 report, to tackle the essence of the state-citizen relationship and the dangerous deterioration of trust between the two. They must be armed with the mentality to tackle our issues politically and nationalistically.

No less important is the education file.

I was recently informed that a Jordanian, who works at an important multi-national private company in Jordan, met with the Prime Minister, Dr Hani Mulqi, to discuss investments and challenges to the economy.

He spoke to the mother company to get feedback on possible points of interest to raise at the meeting with premier, regarding their investments in Jordan, and the reply he got was shocking.

They told him, after careful deliberation, that they only want the government to pay attention to the level of education in Jordan. Jordanian graduates of national education institutions who apply for the vacancies provided by their investments, according to them, are under-qualified, compared to the quality of their employees in other countries.

If anything, this means that Jordan's historical, competitive advantage, which is the quality outputs of our education system, is failing. Meaning that the deterioration in education quality is no longer just a threat. It has become a reality.

This article is an edited translation of the Arabic version, published by AlGhad.

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