june

CONTENTS
06.15
40“We are very excited to get
into this region and to build the
neighborhood.”
House of Genius Cofounder Toma Bedolla.
10 | VENTURE MAGAZINE | JUNE 2015

CONTENTS
06.15
58 Technology
SESAME: A Scientific Step Forward
Jordan has never excelled at scientific study. But a newly revamped, first-of-its-kind research facility could change that.
By Elisa Oddone
48 Refugees
World Refugee Day: Standing Together
To mark World Refugee Day, two top UNHCR representatives examine how best to mitigate the impact of the Syrian
refugee crisis.
By Andrew Harper and Khaled Hosseini
features
54Cover story
Essentials 2020
Orange Jordan CEO Jean-Francois Thomas
lays out the telco giant’s strategic plan for
the coming five years.

regulars
CONTENTS
20
62
OPINION
20 Tech Talk
Disruption Calling
Relentless convergence continues
to rattle telecom operators and their
once lucrative business models.
What can they do to adapt?
By Zeid Nasser
24 The Analyst
Hotel Electricity Rate
Cut: A Misguided Move
Slashing electricity rates for hotels
won’t solve Jordan’s tourism crisis.
By Jawad Abbassi
46 Media and Society
Not Free Enough
The Freedom House Index shows no
reason for Jordan to celebrate World
Press Freedom Day.
By Osama Al Sharif
MONEY
42 Amman Stock Exchange
Industrial Sector Boosts
Index
The ASE rises following a strong
performance by the Industrial and
Services Indexes.
By Aram Rabadi
Review
66 Hot Wheels
A Super Supercar
The breathtaking McLaren 650S
Coupe.
By Ghaith Madadha
64 Hot Products
Samsung Back to its
Best
The new Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge.
By Sadad Talhouni
62 Business Sense
Jordan’s Gaping Gender
Wage Gap
When men and women have the
same job and do the same work but
are paid differently.
By Jane Hosking
66
Sirish Kumar, Cofounder
and CEO of Telr
38 30
46
64

Managing Director
Qais Elias
qais@jo.jo
Senior Associate
Dina al-Wakeel
dina@venture-mag.com
Editor
Laith Abou-Ragheb
laith@jo.jo
Staff Writers
Jane Hosking
jane@venture-mag.com
Elisa Oddone
elisa@venture-mag.com
Art Director
Heba Abu-Elayyan
heba@venture-mag.com
Senior Designer
Ahmad Aliah
Ahmad@venture-mag.com
Photography
Alaa’ al-Sukhny
Contributing Writers
Aram Rabadi, Ghaith Madadha, Jawad
Abbassi, Nader Museitif, Osama al-Sharif,
Robert Carroll, Sadad Talhouni, Zeid Nasser
Editorial Venture Magazine
P.O. Box 941426 Amman 11194 Jordan
Tel: +962 6 5630430
Fax: +962 6 5630440
Printing
National Press
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Al-Faridah for Specialized Publications
Sales & Marketing Director
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Comments and questions are welcome
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twitter: @VentureJO
www.venturemagazine.me
Published Monthly by
Samih Darwazah, the founder of
Hikma Pharmaceuticals, died last
month at the age 85.
Long a towering figure in Jordan’s
businesscommunityforcreatingsuch
an important firm, he was also one of
the country’s first pharmacists, and
served both as a Senator and Minister
of Energy and Mineral Resources.
An AUB graduate and an honorary
doctorate recipient, Darwazah
founded Hikma in 1978 and listed
it on the London Stock Exchange
in 2005, making it one of a handful
of companies in Jordan that can be
truly considered world-class. It is one
of the companies that contribute to
the national economy, while raising
Jordan’s name high in the process.
Although it started off modestly with
a capital of JD300,000, this year
it became the FTSE 100’s fourth
pharmaceuticals stock. Each year it
continues to penetrate new markets,
acquire new subsidiaries, and
generate healthy revenue.
Both involved in the company from
its early days, Samih’s two sons,
Said, who took over the company
in 1995, and Mazen, the company’s
vice-chairman and MENA CEO,
continue their father’s legacy, taking
it to new heights.
To document his success and share
his long journey, Samih wrote a
business memoir called Building a
Global Success on the rise of Hikma.
We have lost a true entrepreneur who
dedicated his life to improve a sector
and build a family business that
will hopefully continue to succeed,
honoring Samih’s name and legacy.
On his father’s influence, Said told
JO magazine in early 2005: “He was
more of a friend throughout. I was
there with him from the start. We
traveled the path together and we
shared the success. His policies had a
major influence on the family. We all
subscribe to the same school of hard
work and giving back to society.”
editor'sletter
Dina al-Wakeel Senior Associate
Losing a Legend

This year has seen a good share
of volatility, on both global and
regional levels. The price of oil has
dipped since the middle of 2014,
bringing with it lots of negative
speculation within oil-dependent
economies. Softer growth in
China and Europe caused a serious
slowdown in emerging markets and
commodity exporters in Africa and
Australia. Compound these with a
strong dollar and falling currencies
in Europe, Asia, and Africa and you
find quite a complex global scene.
Divergence is ever more evident;
post financial recession we saw
China and Asia balancing the crisis
in the United States and Europe
and driving demand from emerging
markets. Fast forward a few years
later and we see a slow but steady
US recovery and mediocre prospects
everywhere else.
Volatility is synonymous with
markets. If anything, we had too little
of it in post-recession times. Looking
ahead, more volatility is expected in
the coming few months. Oil prices
have been gaining ground since their
low point. A lot of speculation is
taking place over the US Fed move to
potentially hike up interest rates this
month. Our region is no less volatile
with all the conflict, geopolitical
uncertainty,andinvestmentsentiment.
So brace yourselves.
It’s never easy to navigate a business
in complex and volatile contexts. But
unless you’re the CEO of a Fortune
100 company, or an investment bank
with trading floors in every major
time zone, you don’t really have
to worry about every aspect of the
global economy.
One cannot control the macro forces,
which is why micro economics are so
important.Demandshiftsandchanges,
but it’s always there—along with
supply.Thankstoourhyperconnected
world,marketschangefasterthanever,
and so do opportunities.
Operating a strategy within a
narrow scope or a limited target
market is very risky. Investors and
entrepreneurs should look to the
largest markets possible and remain
flexible as to where they sell and
how they structure and continuously
restructure their supply chains. So
when the dollar strengthens it makes
sense to sell to a growing US market.
In the same way it makes all the
sense to buy from Europe as the Euro
weakens. It isn’t rocket science but
the art of the game is in anticipating
andbeingreadytochangeandadapt.
To most of us, the term “business
model” is used to denote a static
structure that operated for years
at length. Such a notion is being
challenged in unprecedented ways.
What a business does is going after
opportunities—fast, efficient, and
in a manner that’s attractive for
customers to remember it and to
come back for more. What a business
does today may not be relevant next
year; but if the business is modeled
on volatile and changing markets
such change should not affect its
raison d’etre.
It’s very easy to fall into the comfort
trap of choosing obvious and
convenient markets during the good
times. But cycles teach us that the
upside is there because it’s preceded
and followed by a downside. A
little planning and flexibility on
the strategy side in exploring new
markets and niches can go a long way
when volatility points downwards.
THESTRATEGIST Nader Museitif
Nader Museitif is a director of Merg-
ers and Acquisitions and franchising
at Aramex.You can contact him at
nader.museitif@gmail.com
Market volatility never really goes away.The trick is learning to adapt to it.
VolatilityIsGood
gateway

gateway
Telecom operators are in a
curious position at the moment. They
owe their very existence to the same
mobile infrastructure and devices
that are now sucking away their
revenue. It’s a classic case of self-
cannibalization. Telcos are selling less
and less SMS bundles, but more—and
ever larger—3G and 4G bundles.
But these are the very same data
subscriptionsthatareallowingusersto
relyonmessagingservicesthatarefast
replacing SMS. That means telecom
operatorsaresufferingfromanetloss.
Talkminuteshavealsobeendropping,
especially international calling, due to
the use of Voice over IP (VoIP) with
desktop and mobile apps like Skype.
This is set to drop to a new low
with the arrival of voice calling on
Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp.
When Facebook bought WhatsApp
for $19 billion, it demonstrated the
company’s future plans to generate
revenue from the approximately 500
million users on this service, who are
chatting and sharing every day. This
acquisition surely spooked telecom
operators, and the recent addition of
voice calling confirmed their fears.
All this shows we live in an era in
which software is beating the network
and the hardware it runs on. These
voice calling apps join Google’s
G-Talk, Microsoft’s Skype, and others
like Viber and Tango in an assault
on the future revenue of telecom
operators. ‘Social calling’ app owners
will take the lion’s share of revenues
from the VoIP communication shift.
Telecomcompanies,ontheotherhand,
will obtain the ‘minimum fees of
transportation’ while also losing out
on the VAS (Value Added Services)
revenue.
Suchapp-callingservicesareconsidered
to be part of the Over-The-Top (OTT)
type of services which a user receives
‘over the Internet’ and aren’t provided
directlybytelecomoperatorsorInternet
Service Providers (ISP). What this
means is that your operator doesn’t
benefit from any subscription fees or
advertising revenue.
Looking at the losses to telcos due
to this phenomenon, research firm
Ovum forecast that consumer use of
VoIP through OTT will grow at a
compoundedannualrateof20percent
between 2012 and 2018, culminating
at 1.7 trillion minutes. Accordingly,
a calculation of losses shows a
whopping total of $380 billion, of
which $63 billion will be lost in the
final year onwards.
So can standard mobile network
calling services maintain some of their
paid calling minutes? The answer is
yes. To begin with, the fact these apps
can only make calls to those you are
‘connected to’ or those who ‘accept
to receive your calls’ means that
traditional calling will continue to be
important,thoughsmallerthanbefore.
You will need to call land lines and
office numbers which chat apps
can’t handle. Other than using paid
mobile-to-land-line VoIP services
like Skype, users will probably opt
for the less expensive and hassle-free
optionofopeningthenumberkeypad
and dialling.Your mobile subscription
comes with thousands of minutes
which you will use. Perhaps the size
of your calling plan will get smaller,
but you’ll still need it. So, it’s not all
doom and gloom, yet!
For most of us, the aforementioned
logic would apply. However, other
than the VoIP shift there’s also an
ongoing generational shift among
users. For teens, the green phone icon
is just another app on their screen and
WhatsApp is the same. This levels the
playing field between ‘telecom voice’
and ‘voice over IP.’
As you would expect, this has got
many stakeholders nervous. Some
governments and regulatory bodies
are planning to intervene to protect
their national telecom operators. The
idea is to prevent losses to such huge
corporations which pay taxes and
employ the local workforce. This
would be a step backwards, and a
moveagainstthefreedomofeconomic
forces. Still, OTT Regulation is
coming. In countries like China, where
the world’s biggest mobile carrier
operates with 760 million subscribers,
OTT apps are being blamed for the
disappointing financial results and
there could be some attempts to slow
down this trend.
But the majority of governments
across the globe will not intervene.
That’s why the heyday of big
profits from high SMS margins and
international calling has ended. At
some point in the future, local calls
may follow.
Put simply, no regulator or operator
can halt the march of technology
and consumer choice. Perhaps a
more fruitful approach would be
to reorganize operations to lessen
the blow and find the means to
capitalize on the evolution of the
telecommunications industry. The
fast-pace of developments suggests
we’ll be seeing more disruption to
the telephony in the coming decades,
whereby not even the ‘voice chat app’
owners will be safe.
TECHTALK Zeid Nasser
Zeid Nasser is a tech and media
writer and commentator since the
1990s. He’s also the founder of vari-
ous local and regional media projects.
zanasser@gmail.com
Relentless convergence continues to rattle telecom operators and their once lucrative business models. What
can they do to adapt?
DisruptionCalling
traditional calling will continue to be
important, though smaller than before

Years ago, I told my father I
wanted to be a CEO when I grew
up. Of what kind of company, it
didn’t matter. No doubt feeling very
proud of his son’s ambition, my dad
neverthelesstooktheopportunity(as
he often does) to share some advice:
“Get a job in sales. That’s where
you’ll learn the skills to be a CEO,”
he said.
At the time, the correlation between
sales and being CEO wasn’t clear.
After all, doesn’t a CEO have a VP
of sales?
When I graduated from high school I
decided to serve a two-year mission
for my church in South America. I
thought it would be a magnificent
journey of service and spirituality,
but it also turned out to be an
intensive course in face-to-face
sales. I spent my days selling my
religion to strangers in Santiago,
Chile. And I loved it.
After my mission I went to college.
Ithoughtstudentgovernmentwould
be fun, so throughout my college
career I took the lead on several
studentbodygovernmentcampaigns
(including my own). I was surprised
to learn that politics was the art of
selling ideas.
My professional work since then
has stretched across the banking,
tech, and venture capital industries.
None of my job titles even hinted
at sales. Yet day after day, I have
neededtodevelopandutilizeselling
techniquesinordertodogoodwork.
In his book To Sell is Human, Daniel
H.Pink looks at the art of selling
in a “broader sense –persuading,
influencing, and convincing others.”
While only some work in actual
sales roles, the business landscape
is shifting towards a model where
everyone is selling.
This is especially true for startup
companies, where the same person
might be doing marketing, people
management, sales, and design
all at the same time. This breadth
of skills is absolutely crucial for
entrepreneurs, and becoming the
status quo everywhere else. Pink
calls it “elasticity,” and warns that
we now live in a world that punishes
"fixed skills and prizes elastic ones."
It’s time to take a look at yourself to
see if you have invested enough time
and energy to become a proficient
seller. It very well may be the
most important skill you need for a
successful career. I’m not a CEO (yet),
but I’ll be following my dad’s advice
in order to become one someday.
STARTUPJORDAN Robert Carroll
Robert Carroll is an investment ex-
pert at Oasis500 in Amman, Jordan.
He also leads the Jordan chapter of
Startup Grind, powered by Google
for Entrepreneurs.You can find his
advice for entrepreneurs andVCs at
www.JordanVC.com.
Mastering the art of selling will put any entrepreneur in good stead.
LearntoSell
gateway

Jordan’s tourism sector plays
an important role in the Kingdom’s
economy. According to the
Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
(MOTA), tourism receipts in 2014
rose 6 percent year-on-year to
JD3.1 billion, while the number of
overnight visitors to Jordan over
the same period rose 1.1 percent to
almost 4 million.
Last year, some 60 percent of
overnight tourists visiting Jordan
chose to stay in hotels. Hotel
guests totaled 2.4 million, while
around 1.6 million tourists stayed in
apartmentsratherthanhotels.Hotel
guests stay an average of 2.1 nights
only, generating over five million
hotel nights.
Amman is the prime tourism
destination followed by Aqaba, Dead
Sea, and Petra. Last year, Amman’s
share of total hotel nights was 59
percent and its share of total guests
stood at 54 percent. Aqaba followed
with a 22 percent share of both nights
and guests. The Dead Sea came in
third with 14 percent of guests and
12 percent of hotel nights. Petra
was in fourth place, with a share of
7 percent of guests and 6 percent of
hotel nights. Between them, the four
main destinations of Amman, Aqaba,
Dead Sea, and Petra accounted for
98 percent of hotel nights and hotel
guests in 2014.
Yes, 2014 was a good year for
hotels, which was clearly reflected
in the results of those listed on the
Amman Stock Exchange. Seven
publicly traded companies that own
13 hotels generated revenues of
JD142 million, up 5 percent on 2013.
Operating profits increased by 6
percent to JD42 million.
Unfortunately, hotels didn’t get
off to an auspicious start in 2015.
According to MOTA, tourism
receipts in the first four months of the
year dropped by 15 percent to reach
JD880 million, down from around
JD1 billion over the same period in
2014. Tourist numbers also dropped
by 13 percent, while tourists arriving
ingroupsdroppedby41percent.This
drop was also reflected in the results
of the publicly traded companies: In
thefirstquarterof2015,theaggregate
revenues of the 13 hotels at ASE
dropped by 17 percent to stand at
JD25 million, while operating profit
dropped by 44 percent to a mere
JD4.3 million.
In May, the government announced
actions aimed at energizing the
tourism sector. The measures
included waiving taxes on plane
tickets and waiving visa fees for
tourists that stay longer than three
days and visit the tourism sites.
Moreover, the government decided
to reduce the electricity charges for
hotels across Jordan by 50 percent
to become 91 fils, down from 181
fils. The official calculations suggest
that the electricity rate reduction will
amount to JD28 million annually.
The visa reduction measures, which
encourage more tourists to visit
Jordan is welcome, but the massive
electricity rate cut is ill-advised.
The rate drop disproportionately
favors hotels less hit by the current
crisis than hotels suffering from
very low occupancy rates. After all,
hotelswithlowoccupancieswillhave
reduced electricity consumption by
default as most of the hotel rooms
remain empty.
The new rate sells electricity at
below its actual cost. This means
that the government is subsidizing
hotels only while neglecting the
other main components of the
tourism service sector (restaurants,
clubs, malls, recreation parks, etc).
Moreover, it neglects that 40 percent
of tourists choose to stay in furnished
apartments, not hotels. These now
pay four times the electricity rates
paid by hotels.
The rate drop is revealed to be even
more illogical when considering
hospitals and schools will now be
expected to pay four times the rate
paid by five star hotels.
Shortofacomprehensiverebalancing
of electricity rates in the country, the
more sensible decision would have
been for the government to keep the
electricity rate for hotels unchanged.
It should have then taken the surplus
it generates from the tourism sector
electricity bills (around 28 percent,
which is the difference between 181
fils and the actual cost of around 140
fils per kWh), and poured it into the
marketing and promotions budget
of Jordan’s tourism sector. The root
cause of the problem lies in falling
tourismnumbers.Thesolutionshould
be to drive up these numbers, not
reducingratesforsomeplayersatthe
expense of others.
THEANALYST JAWAD J. ABBASSI
Jawad J. Abbassi is the founder and
GM of Arab Advisors Group. Contact
him on jawad@arabadvisors.com.
The decision to slash electricity rates for hotels won’t do anything to solve the crisis in Jordan’s
tourism sector.
HotelElectricityRateCut:AMisguidedMove
gateway
the more sensible decision would have
been for the government to keep the
electricity rate for hotels unchanged

United States, May 2
Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather fight for the WBC title at the MGM
Grand Arena.
EGYPT, May 16
Egypt’s ousted Islamist President Mohamed Morsi waves his hands
behind the court’s bars as he is sentenced to death over 2011
jailbreak charges.
MONTHIN PICTURES
gateway
United States, May 13
Work crews at the scene of a New York bound Amtrak train that derailed leaving seven people dead and several others injured.
© Noah K. Murray/Corbis
©ColinMcPherson/Corbis
©GonzalesPhoto/Demotix/Corbis©GeneBlevins/ZUMAPress/Corbis
©SunilSharma/Demotix/Corbis
©STR/XinhuaPress/Corbis
UK, May 8
Tellers carrying out the counting of ballot papers at Bidston Tennis
Center, Wirral for the Wirral West constituency in the 2015 UK General
Election, which was won by David Cameron’s party.
NEPAL, May 15
A woman carries a baby as she stands on debris of collapsed buildings following
a second powerful earthquake that struck Nepal, killing dozens.
DENMARK, May 10
Thousands of cheerful participants take part in the Color Run Copenhagen. The popular American event has expanded all over the world and now takes
place in seven Danish cities.
VENTURE MAGAZINE | 2726 | VENTURE MAGAZINE | JUNE 2015

What is it?
The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership,
or TTIP for short, is a huge trade deal currently being
negotiated between America and Europe.
What’s good about it?
The pact, which could boost the economies of each
side by well over $100 billion annually, aims to free
up trade by harmonizing regulations. For example,
the deal in theory would enable manufactures to
produce a single product that could be sold on
both sides of the Atlantic without having to make
potentially costly adjustments to comply with
unnecessary different regulations. This could mean,
for instance, that car makers would save a great deal
of money by no longer having to make two different
types of windscreen wipers.
Any objections?
Some critics, particularly in Europe, say the TTIP
would allow multinationals to use supranational
courts to force national governments to water down
environmental regulations or gradually privatize
public health systems like the NHS in Britain. The
TTIP has also come under attack over worries it
could for the first time allow American farmers
to export highly processed genetically modified
“Frankenfoods” to Europe. On the surface, the
economic benefits of the TTIP appear clear. But
negotiations have been underway for around
two years, and there are fears they could drag
on for many more due the political controversy
surrounding the potential pact. The United States
is thrashing out a similar trade deal with several
Pacific Rim countries, which many observers believe
has a greater chance of becoming a reality in the
short-term.
The Transatlantic
Trade and Investment
Partnershiphe European Bank for Reconstruction and
Development (EBRD) has loaned the Greater
Amman Municipality (GAM) $13 million to fund the
construction of a landfill-gas recovery system which
converts municipal waste into energy.
The project, which is the first of its kind in Jordan,
is expected to be operational by the first half of next
year and will generate approximately 29,000 MWh
of electricity.
The system will work by processing and treating the
gasemittedfromdecomposinggarbagetoproduce
the electricity, which will then be delivered to the
national grid, replacing electricity produced by
grid-connected power plants that previously used
heavy fuel oil.
The EBRD expects this will reduce greenhouse gas
emissions in Jordan by nearly 155,000 tons of CO2-
equivalent annually, as well as helping to manage
solid waste.
The project will be implemented through the
establishment of a new solid waste company, owned
by the city of Amman, and by introducing a public
service contract between the city and the newly
created company.
EBRD President Suma Chakrabarti hopes the project
will benefit the environment in Jordan and aid in
waste management. “We aim to strengthen the
operational,financial,andenvironmentalperformance
of municipal solid waste management in Amman,”
he said in a press release. Chakrabarti added that the
project provides a unique opportunity to promote
sector reform.
Since it began operating in Jordan in 2012, the EBRD
has pumped close to $300 million into several SMEs,
energy, and municipal development projects. –JH
GAM to CoNvert Waste
into Energy
Cheat
Sheet
gateway news&views
Energy
T
“It would be positive if the accord
could in some way help with the
establishment and recognition of
an independent, sovereign, and
democratic State of Palestine.”
The Vatican’s deputy foreign
minister, Monsignor Antoine
Camilleri, after the Vatican
concluded its first treaty that
formally recognizes the
State of Palestine.
“If someone is asking for help,
we as fishermen have an
obligation to help without looking
at race, religion, or anything.”
One of the fishermen from
Aceh who helped save
over 1,000 Rohingyas and
Bangladeshis stranded at
sea after they fled
Myanmar.
“No one can set the price
of oil. It’s up to Allah.”
Saudi Arabia’s
oil minister Ali
al-Naimi on
speculating
about the
future of oil
prices.
“The security system [failed] to
coordinate among themselves
on issues that affect the
security of citizens and their
stability.”
Prime Minister Abdullah
Ensour on the resignation
and retirement of key security
figures, including Interior
Minister Hussein
Majali.
QUOTED
finthepastJordan’seducationsystem
wasdirectedatencouragingstudentsto
embrace an academic path, now the
pendulum must swing back towards
vocational training, Arabian Business
Consultants for Development CEO Laith
al Qassem said during last month’s
Educating for the Needs of the Labor
Market conference.
Theseasonedbusinessconsultant,who’s
also a board member of the Young
Entrepreneurs Association and helped
establish around 20 startups, sees the
shortageofskilledworkersinJordanasa
strong incentive to boost its vocational
programs and train the workers.
Why isn’t the higher education
system producing young
Jordanians with skills that
employers need?
One should have a realistic
understanding of the needs of the labor
market. For example, we have around
120,000 registered engineers in the
country. Of them, only roughly 10
percent work in the field. We need
craftsmen and technicians to be able to
translatethisengineeringknowledgeinto
practice. The number of graduates in
engineering is a nice trophy for the
country, but it doesn’t help Jordan’s
economy unfold.
What’s the state of vocational
training programs in Jordan?
The length of vocational education
dependsonthechosensector;itcouldgo
from several months up to two years. At
theendoftheprogrameachapprentice
receives a certificate. But convincing
parents and students to join vocational
programsoveruniversitiesisatoughtask
astheirunderstandingofthelabormarket
is based on a societal misconception.
They both look down on vocational
educationinfavorofuniversities, seeing
the academic path as a way to earn a
higher salary.
What could be done to encourage
young people to join vocational
programs?
The school system should identify
students’ talents and channel them into
the right program from a very early age.
There also must be a national program
that talks about the nobility and
importance of technical skills for the
economyandraisetheirstatusintheeyes
ofsociety.Vocationaleducationmustbe
considered as important, or even more,
than an academic career.
What role should business play in
getting more young Jordanians
to sign up for vocational courses?
ThevastmajorityofJordan’sbusinesses
are micro, small, and medium-sized
enterprises.Becauseoftheirsizes,most
of them lack the ability to do proper
human resources recruitment, which
can identify the skills and requirements
needed in a certain company. This
creates obstacles for straightforward
communicationbetweenbusinessesand
the vocational training corporations.
If there was support for Jordan’s
enterprises to help signal their needs
to vocational training associations, it
would be possible to build a network
to train students and make economic
use of them. This would bolster
Jordan’s economy and help tackle
unemploymentinthemedium-term.–EO
Education
I
Vocational Training Boost Needed – Al Qassem
Laith al Qassem, CEO of Arabian
Business Consultants for Development

ordan’s first utility-scale wind
project is set to begin operating
in September, said the head of the
company behind the pioneering
project which aims to help diversify
Jordan’s energy basket away from
its overwhelming reliance on
expensive fossil fuels.
Jordan Wind Project Company
(JWPC) Chairman Samer S. Judeh
said the 117 MW wind farm currently
under construction in the Tafileh
governorate will comprise 38
turbines, each with a rated capacity
of 3.08 MW and some of which will
begin operating imminently. “Partial
energization of the facility will
commence very soon,” said Judeh.
Conceived in 2009, the Tafileh wind
project received $221 million of its
$287 total funding from a
syndication of six international
banks: the International Finance
Corporation (IFC), which is part of
the World Bank Group, the
European Investment Bank (EIB),
the Dutch Development Bank
(FMO), the OPEC Fund for
International development (OFID),
and Europe Arab Bank (EAB). The
Danish Export Credit Agency (EKF)
provided guarantees for a portion of
the financing.
The rest of funding was provided by
three investors; Paris based
InfraMed Infrastructure Fund,
Masdar Power of Abu Dhabi, and
EP Global Energy of Cyprus.
To secure financial backing, Judeh
said a series of stringent
environmental and social impact
assessments had to be carried out.
“The development period for the
project was quite challenging. We
undertook a very extensive
environmental and social impact
assessment in line with the
standards required from our
financiers,” he said. “The existing
conditions in the project area were
studied thoroughly, and the project
design was modified extensively to
minimize impacts to the area based
on the data we collected.”
Judeh said several factors were taken
Energy
Autumn Launch for First Wind Farm
J
into account when choosing the
location of the wind farm. First and
foremost,therehadtobeenoughyear-
roundwindtomaketheprojectviable.
“The project needs a large amount of
wind data in order to determine the
appropriate turbine model and
estimate generation amounts … The
wind conditions were measured and
recorded continuously for over two
years. The results of the measurement
campaign showed that the site was
indeed as windy as we had hoped,”
explained Judeh.
He added that one of the advantages
of renewable projects would also be
bringingmuchneededinvestmentto
the underdeveloped southern
governorates of Jordan.
Ultimately, he believes his project
was important to blaze a trail for
others to follow in Jordan’s nascent
renewable energy sector. “All new
projects and new industries are
difficult to venture into at the
beginning. Developing this project
and securing its financing was a
difficultandlengthyprocessbecause
it was a learning experience both for
the developer and the government,”
said Judeh. “We were the
groundbreakers and many of the
contracts and conditions that were
negotiated for this project were
carriedforwardtobecometemplates
for other projects.”
The disruption of the Egyptian gas
following the toppling of Egyptian
President Hosni Mubarak ratcheted
up pressure on Jordan to generate
electricity using heavy fuel while
looking for alternative sources of
energy. Yet an almost 50 percent
drop in oil prices last year raised
worries that it could mean less
interestinrenewableenergyprojects.
Judeh stressed that the fall in oil
prices doesn’t mean that Jordan
should ease off on developing
renewable energy, particularly that
oil prices continue to fluctuate.
He estimates that the Tafileh wind
farm alone will save the treasury $50
million a year in what would otherwise
be paid to generate electricity using
diesel, heavy fuel, and gas. According
to Judeh, wind projects in general
generatemorepowerthatsolarprojects
duetothefactthattheyoperateona24
hour basis. –DW
gateway news&views
the Tafileh wind farm alone will save the
treasury $50 million a year in what would
otherwise be paid to generate electricity
using diesel, heavy fuel, and gas
Samer S. Judeh, Chairman of
Jordan Wind Project Company
The Tafileh Wind Farm

SAUDI ARABIA
The Riyadh Express
In a further sign the Gulf region is serious about diversifying its transport
infrastructure, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported a new 1,400 kilometer railway
line that links Riyadh with the northeastern city of Al Qurayyat near the
Jordanian border, is set to open soon.
The London-based pan-Arab website said the Saudi Railway Company will
operate two trains in the line. One will operate during the day, and can
accommodate up to 444 passengers, and another that will run during the
night and features 377 seats. Both will pass by several Saudi governorates,
including al Jawf and al Qassim.
QATAR
Mega Jet Deal
Qatar has signed a $7 billion deal with France to supply the Gulf state with
24 Rafale fighter jets, Reuters reported.
The huge deal also includes the training of 36 Qatari pilots and 100
technicians by the French military. “If we are present here in Qatar and the
region it is because France is considered a reliable country ‎which a partner
country can give their confidence to,” French President Francois Hollande
was quoted as saying.
France also signed multi-billion dollar deals to supply Rafale jets to Egypt and
India earlier this year.
SAUDI ARABIA
Sky-High Flats for Sale
Jeddah’s Kingdom’s Tower isn’t due for completion until 2018, but
apartments in what’s slated to become the world’s tallest building are due
to go on sale late this year, the developer’s CEO told Reuters.
The $1.2 billion Kingdom Tower will be over 1 km high, Jeddah Economic
Company Chief Executive Mounib Hammoud said. Dubai’s Burj Khalifa,
which stands at about 830 meters, currently holds the coveted title of the
world’s tallest building.
The Kingdom Tower will include offices, a 200-room Four Seasons Hotel,
121 serviced apartments, and 360 residential apartments.
GULFROUNDUPInflation watch
Inflation in April dropped by 1.07
percent over the same month
last year. Indicators for Rent rose
by 5.8 percent, Education by 3.7
percent, Communication by 0.23
percent, and Clothing and Footwear
by 5 percent. However,
Transportation, and Fuel and
Lighting dropped by 13.9 percent
and 12 percent respectively.
Food Items
CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR
HOUSING
COMMUNICATION
EDUCATION
FUEL AND LIGHTING
TRANSPORTATION
0.2 0.21 0.22 0.23
3.8 3.66 3.7 3.7
-10.3 -13.12 -12.16 -12
-16.2 -18.85 -13.9-15.8
2.3 1.22 1.4 1.5
8.5 7.03 6.7 5
1.9 -0.09 0.11 -0.16
Month on month Percentage
of change in major consumer
categories
(DepartmentofStatistics,2015)
JAN'15 FEB'15 MAR'15 APR'15
gateway news&views
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Jordan Waives Visa Fee in Tourism Boost Drive
n a bid to support Jordan’s ailing
tourism sector, the government is
rollingoutaraftofmeasures,including
waiving the cost of certain visitor visas,
introducing a unified entry ticket for
archeological attractions, and slashing
hotel electricity bills.
Regional unrest continues to make
foreigntouristswaryofbookingtripsto
Jordan and the wider region. The
number of visitors to Petra in the first
quarteroftheyearwasdown37percent
to around 150,000, according to the
Jordan Tourism Board.
Thegovernmentsaiditwaswaivingthe
JD40 visa fee for tourists arriving in
Jordanvialocaltouroperators,butonly
ontheconditiontheyspendatleasttwo
consecutivenightsintheKingdom.The
feeisalsobeingwaivedforindependent
tourists staying a minimum of three
nightsandwhohavepurchasedaJD70
unified tourist site ticket.
The departure tax will also be lifted for
all scheduled flights from Aqaba and
Amman, on the condition that tourists
purchase the unified tourist site ticket
and spend a minimum of three
consecutive nights in Jordan.
SeveralhotelsinPetrahavebeenforced
to close during the latest tourism
downturn.Inresponse,thegovernment
announced it would be cutting hotel
electricity bills by 50 percent.
All this will be implemented
gradually until September, Jordan’s
Minister of Tourism Nayef al Fayez
wrote on Twitter.
Whether the new regulations will
actually boost the state of the
Kingdom’s tourism sector and help
ease some of the challenges that
hinder its growth, however, remains
to be seen. –EO
Tourism
he Aqaba Development
Corporation (ADC) said the
port’s newly-completed liquefied
natural gas (LNG) terminal will
receive its first shipment this month,
and will ultimately be able to cover
all of Jordan’s electricity needs.
“The LNG will generate 100 percent
of Jordan’s electricity needs and
fulfill the country’s long-term
strategic requirements for natural
gas,” ADC CEO Ghassan Ghanem
told Venture in a phone interview.
Shell tankers carrying the LNG
shipment from Qatar will berth at
the terminal before discharging its
load into the Floating Storage and
Regasification Unit (FSRU).
ADC commissioned UK-based
BAM International and its Jordanian
partner MAG Engineering in 2013 to
build the terminal as part of a JD55
million engineering, procurement,
and construction deal. The facility
will be leased for 10 years by
Jordan’s Ministry of Energy and
Mineral Resources.
Ghanem said the terminal will
be able to receive ships with a
deadweight—a measure of how
much weight a ship can carry
safely—of up to 220,000 tons. “We
guaranteed Jordan with a strategic
terminal in the long-term as this is
the weight the latest generation of
carriers can transport,” he said.
According to a recent report by the
Oxford Business Group (OBG),
the FSRU can produce 7.5 million
cubic meters of regasified natural
gas per year. Once fed into the
Jordan Gas Transmission Pipeline
to generating stations across the
country, steady flows of natural
gas will save Jordan hundreds of
millions of dollars every year.
The Kingdom has been investing
in alternative energy projects amid
growing pressure on its budget
followingthedisruptionofthecheap
Egyptian gas flows in recent years.
The FSRU will provide Jordan
with a more diverse energy basket,
making it less vulnerable to external
shocks that have hindered supplies
in the past, OBG said.
LNG can be sourced from about 20
countries worldwide, breaking the
dependenceonasystemofpipelines
that may be subject to attacks or
political turmoil.
The FSRU will also add 160,000
cubic meters of LNG storage
capacity,significantlyenhancingthe
country’s flexibility in managing its
purchases of gas. –EO
enovo launched its first range of
smartphones in Jordan last
month,joiningotherbigChinesetech
manufacturers like Huawei in trying
to capture a slice of the Kingdom’s
growing handset market.
Lenovo released seven budget-to-
midrange models, ranging in price
from around $100 to $350. Al Bakhit
Communication Company will be
the main distributor and aftercare
provider for the brand nationwide.
Lenovo is already the biggest
seller of laptops and PCs in Jordan,
according to Rony Mezeraani,
general manager for Lenovo Levant,
Egypt, and North Africa. Now the
company has its sights set on being
the Kingdom’s leading smartphone
brand. “Jordan is an important
countryforoursmartphonebusiness,
a dynamic market that embraces
tech, innovation, and style,” he
said. “We are very upbeat about the
futureofLenovosmartphonemarket
growth here, bringing an added
value proposition to an enthusiastic
community of users.”
Chinese smartphone brands, with
their high specs and keen pricing,
are fast growing in popularity,
particularly in developing markets.
Last year, Xiaomi usurped Apple
and Samsung as the top smartphone
manufacturer in China. –ST
First LNG Shipment Arrives in JUNE Lenovo Launches
First Smartphones
in Jordan
T
L
gateway news&views
Energy Technology
I

espiteadifficultregionalcontext,
the Qatar National Bank (QNB)
Group said it expected Jordan’s real
GDP growth to reach 4 percent over
2015, accelerate to 4.3 percent in 2016,
and 4.5 percent in 2017.
Jordan’s economy would continue
to recover on the back of continued
economic reforms, stronger
construction activity and mining
exports, as well as higher government
investment, QNB said in a statement.
Sustained lower energy prices were
alsolikelytoincreasecompetitiveness
and domestic demand, it added.
In April, the IMF forecast a growth
of 3.8 percent in Jordan’s GDP over
2015, reaching 4.5 percent in 2016.
QNB said it expected Consumer Price
Index inflation to slow to 0.8 percent
this year on the pass-through of lower
oilprices,buttorecoverbetween2016
and 2017.
“Lower global oil prices are expected
to lead to negative foreign inflation in
2015, which will be counterbalanced
bythecontinuedpresenceofrefugees
in Jordan, adding to domestic
inflation,” QNB said. “Overall
inflation will pick up in 2016-2017 on
a gradual pick in foreign inflation due
to the expected recovery in oil prices
and stronger domestic demand.”
Furthermore, the financial institution
said lower oil prices would narrow the
currentaccountdeficitin2015,andthe
deficit will then widen between 2016
and 2017 once oil prices rebound.
“We expect a large reduction in the
energy import bill, supported by the
lower oil prices and the start of LNG
imports, following the launch of the
LNG terminal at the port of Aqaba,
starting in May 2015,” QNB said.
It also said it expected a new
bilateral agreement with India for
Jordanianphosphateexports,aswell
as a projected recovery in the price
of potash, both leading to higher
export growth.
QNB expected lending growth to
rebound in 2015 (7.4 percent), 2016
(8.9 percent), and 2017 (9.5 percent)
as lower government bond rates and
reducedgovernmentfinancingneeds
push banks to increase their lending
book. “Profitability should rise on
further declines in non-performing
loansandcontinuedhighcapitalization
ratios,” the QNB said. –LA
GDP to Grow 4 Percent in 2015 - QNB
D
Energy
t’s pretty obvious that Jordan, an
energy-poor country with almost
year-roundsunshine,issettobenefit
greatly from advances in solar
power technology.
But even with the encouraging
appearance of more and more
photovoltaic panels on the roofs of
homes and businesses, the challenge
remains of how to store the energy
they generate when the sun isn’t
shining in a way that’s practical,
reliable, and cost-effective.
A game-changing solution may now
have arrived in the form of the Tesla
Powerwall, a relatively affordable,
wall-mountedlithiumionbatterythat
charges using electricity generated
from photovoltaic systems.
Tesla, a company best known so far
for producing electric cars driven by
the likes of our own Prime Minister,
says the battery offers independence
from the utility grid and the security
of an emergency backup in the event
of a power outage.
The Powerwall measures just 130 cm
X 86 cm. The 10 kWh model designed
for weekly cycle applications costs
$3,500, while the 7 kWh daily cycle
version costs $3,000. When combined
with a photovoltaic system, either of
these should be more than enough to
cover the daily energy needs of the
average Jordanian home. Multiple
batteriescanalsobelinkedtogetherif
more power is needed.
Since its announcement in late
April, Telsa has reportedly taken
orders worth around $800 million
in potential revenue. There’s no
word yet on when and if Tesla
might be bringing it to Jordan. But
given the clearly massive market
for such a potentially revolutionary
product in the Kingdom, and the
expensive electricity bill everybody’s
complaining about, we reckon it
won’t be too long before we see the
Powerwall or a similar competing
battery appearing in homes here. –LA
s part of the “Jordan
Relaunched” program unveiled
at last month’s World Economic
Forum, the Kingdom laid out
investment opportunities worth $20
billion that aim to create 180,000
desperately-needednewjobsoverthe
next decade.
If successfully funded, the ambitious
proposals, which cover the energy,
transport, water, ICT, and
infrastructure sectors, will join a raft
of other confirmed projects worth
some $7 billion that were also
announcedatthethree-daymeetingat
the Dead Sea.
Against a backdrop of continuing
regional economic and political
turmoil, delegates at the event called
for greater investment to be made in
countries like Jordan.
In turn, Suma Chakrabarti, the
president of the European Bank for
Reconstruction and Development
(EBRD), said the Kingdom should
not shy away from telling the world
about how it’s managing to succeed
against the odds. “One doesn’t get to
choose its neighbors and there’s no
doubt that Jordan is [located] in a
very tough neighborhood,” he said.
“But what Jordan must show is that it
is not defined by regional conflict,
but on the contrary, is a stable place
to do business.”
The EBRD started operations
in the Kingdom in 2012 and its
investments, up to date, are valued
at some $340 million that could
extend to $680 million if all the
projects, mostly in renewable
energy and aiding SMEs, on the
table went ahead. –EO
I
A
EnergyEconomy
Tesla Home Battery: The Answer to Jordan’s Solar Energy Conundrum?Jordan Relaunched: Opportunities, Investments, and Partnerships
gateway news&views
Solar panel
Installed in an array on your
roof, solar panels convert
sunlight into electricity
Inverter
Converts direct current electricity from
solar panels or a home battery into the
alternating current used by your home’s
lights, appliances and devices
Home battery
Powerwall stores surplus electricity
generatedfromsolarpanelsduringtheday
or from the utility grid when rates are low
Source: Tesla

gateway executiveinterview
Telr-Made
Solutions
forRegion’s
E-Commerce
Online payment company
Telr is hoping to speed up the
adoption of e-commerce in the
region by offering merchants
unique, tailor-made solutions.
By Dina AlWakeel
Sirish Kumar, the co-founder and
CEO of online payment gateway
Telr, said his company is working
quickly to boost the number of
online merchants in the region, and
change the prevailing preference for
cash on delivery (COD) amongst
online shoppers.
Led by former Paypal, IBM,
and WorldPay executives and
employees, Telr currently offers its
services and products to merchants
in Dubai and Singapore. But Kumar
believes e-commerce in the region
is at an important inflection point,
and his company will therefore soon
be expanding into several other
markets, including Saudi Arabia,
Jordan, and Egypt.
Why did you decide to leave
PayPal and set up your own
online payment system?
During my time with PayPal, I
concludedthattheemergingmarkets
were in need of good, effective
local solutions to enable buyers and
sellers to trade in local currencies.
I think emerging markets, and
particularly the Middle East, are on
an inflection point. It is convergence
of social media and mobile pay.
If you look at the world average,
mobile share of total Internet traffic
is around 10 to 12 percent, but in
countries like Saudi Arabia it’s
around 18 percent. Social media
penetration is the highest in the
Middle East, with around 51 percent
in the UAE, compared to a global
average of 27 percent. Naturally,
users, particularly the young, are
figuring out ways to utilize these
channels for e-commerce and we are
seeing an increased number of users
engaginginonlinetransactionsusing
popular channels like Facebook and
Instagram as their store fronts. If you
combine social media and mobile
together, I think we are at another
inflection point where these users
will need innovative solutions to
helpmanagetheironlinetransactions
through social media.
Do you think that global
companies like PayPal failed to
tailor specific products for the
region?
We will definitely see an increase
of domestic e-commerce as a
proportion of total e-commerce
in the near future in this region,
and that’s very good for everyone.
I believe everyone who comes
here has something to offer, and
international expertise brings with
it best practices, while local players
bring the promise of developing
Christopher Schroeder, American
entrepreneur and venture investor
innovative local solutions. For
example, what we are doing is we
bring in a lot of expertise in offering
e-payment solutions to merchants
with websites and those without
websites, such as merchants that
sell through social media. More
importantly, we will also offer local
solutions in the near future. For
example, when a local merchant
is selling to a local buyer, how
can they use an online banking
system without necessarily going
through the international process
of payments? These are the kind
of scenarios Telr is working on
solving, and I believe this gives us
a competitive edge over traditional
solution providers.
What else differentiates you
from other companies?
First, we stand for enabling the
merchant to draw on the local
currency of their country. I believe
this is not a feature offered by
international e-payment companies.
Second, we offer merchants analytics
that help them understand how
their business is actually doing.
I can’t stress how important this
value-adding feature is. Data-driven
and accurate analysis of their
performance is key to better and
more accurately understand their
positioning and improve. We also
offer a one-stop solution where we
providemerchantssupportonquickly
developing shopping carts and
logistics services. We’ve also recently
signed a partnership agreement
with MasterCard with an ambition
to increase online transactions
and incentivize sellers to do more
transactions online instead of COD.
But international companies
have been having a tough
time trying to change the COD
trends in the region. Do you
think you’ll have more luck?
In the long-run, I believe the
e-commerce ecosystem—both
merchants and consumers—will
benefit from dropping COD as a
payment option. COD is not a great
experience for consumers and has
high cost impact to the merchants.
To facilitate reduction of COD, we
are continuously working towards
fostering meaningful and strategic
partnerships with both merchants
and banks to help enable sellers
to maximize their investments in
the e-commerce sphere, for easier
access to funds, and speeding up the
on-boarding process.
Today in the Middle East region,
domestic e-commerce contributes
only around 10 percent of the total
e-commerce activity, whereas
in Southeast Asia domestic
e-commerce is around 40 percent.
I believe lack of trust in payment
solutions is only one element that
inhibits the growth of e-commerce.
The absence of a comprehensive
e-commerce ecosystem and the lack
ofdomesticmerchantsaretwoother
challenges that have contributed to
slower growth in e-commerce in the
past. Now the trends are showing
much higher growth. The number of
local e-merchants has increased by
25 and 30 percent in many parts of
the Middle East.
So you think that people’s
distrust in the security of
online payments is not a major
issue?
I will say that distrust in payment
solutions is not the only issue.
Companies, like Telr with experienced
product and technical team, is a PCI
DSS level one certified company.
From Visa’s and MasterCard’s
perspectives, we are equipped
and capable of managing online
transactions securely. Security and
trust are of paramount importance to
us. We also undergo regular audits
with the PCI Security Standards
Counciltoensurealloursystemsmeet
and exceed global security standards.
How many institutional clients
do you have and how many
payments do you process?
We cannot disclose this information,
however what I can say is that
we have experienced double-digit
month-on-month growth since we
launched last year. One of our top
priorities is expanding into new
countries where we can add true
value. Our ambition is to expand in
aroundsevencountriesintheMiddle
East in the next 12 months. This
will help merchants to open their
business in different countries and
take advantage of the corridor.
In some countries, governments
are rising up to the occasion and
realizing that e-commerce results
in entrepreneurship and contributes
towards the growth of e-commerce
and GDP, like the UAE and Saudi
Arabia. In Saudi Arabia, if you
want to set up your online business
it takes a few days, while it takes
9 to 15 weeks in other parts of the
Middle East.
Besides your expansion plans,
what else are you lining up
for the future and how do
you foresee the future of
e-commerce in the region?
We are committed to working hand in
hand with our merchants to provide
them with all the necessary tools to
grow their consumer base without
the need for them to invest too much
into their technical infrastructure.
Our success is derived from theirs,
so we will continue to provide all the
necessarysupporttohelpthemgrow.
Today inthe Middle East region, domestic
e-commerce contributes only around 10
percent ofthetotal e-commerce activity,
whereas in Southeast Asia domestic
e-commerce is around 40 percent
Sirish Kumar, Cofounder and CEO of Telr

A typical House of Genius
meetup brings together a group
of 15 experts from a variety of
backgrounds, including PhD
professors, artists, public
servants, and musicians—
who remain anonymous
until the end of the
session—to listen, discuss,
and solve key problems
faced by three business
entrepreneurs. Then each
of the participants offers
solutions, insights, and
suggestionsthatmayassist
the presenter.
Formed in Colorado in
2010, House of Genius
sessions are now held
in 30 cities across the
globe. House of Genius
cofounder Toma Bedolla
says he hopes to bring the
uniquely collaborative
concept to the Middle
East, including Jordan.
What’s the best way to
describe what House of
Genius is all about?
At its core, it’s an
entrepreneurial community
service. We want to
make entrepreneurship a
community endeavor as
opposedtojustanindividual
one. At our events we
do community outreach
for participants who are
not normally engaged
in entrepreneurship. We have
entrepreneurs who have presented
more than once. But the way our
sessions work is that in the next event
that you come to, it will be a room
full of new people, so each session is
a new and unique experience.
Is the model that you follow
the same everywhere?
A very good example of our
core format is the diversity, the
anonymity that we impose, and
planting the seed of serendipity.
What we create is an environment
that allows people to participate
and see how pure and beautiful
collaborationcanbewhenwegetout
of our own way.
Those sessions are never
recreated or revisited because
you do the reveal [of who each
participant is] at the end and once
you know people it’s human nature
to put them into boxes.
When are you planning to
come to the Middle East?
We’ve come close
to opening in Dubai.
The timing has always
been a challenge
for us. We’ve had
talks to open in
Cairo, Morocco, and
definitely Amman.
We’ve also talked to
a group out of Saudi
Arabia, and another
one in Kuwait. We
are very excited to
get into this region
and to build the
neighborhood.
Where do you
want to take
House of Genius?
We want to double in
size in the next two
years which will put
us on pace to reach
100 cities worldwide.
Then put the
technology platform
in place to connect
them all from a data
perspective, and also
to expand the notion
of community and to
really start to connect.
I would love
to see it happen
more frequently.
Each community has sessions
once a month and we see some
communities starting to really yield
a sense of pressure to start doing
more than one a month. We’re just
on the other side of four years now
and we understand what we do
really well now. And part of this
growth is for us to be able to serve
even more entrepreneurs.
Enter the House of GeniusHouse of Genius offers budding entrepreneurs the world over the chance to pick the brains of industry
leaders. It now looks like the popular meetups might be coming to our part of the world soon.
Soundbite
By Dina AlWakeel
Toma Bedolla, Cofounder of
House of Genius

MarketBrief
IndustrialSectorBoosts
Index
April 20, 2015 – May 19, 2015
BY ARAM RABADI
T
he General Index gained
0.69 percent to close at
2,169 points as the market
received strong support
from the industrial sector where the
index gained 2.19 percent to close at
1,888 points. At the same time, the
Financial Index gained 0.17 percent
and the Services Index gained 0.04
percent. Meanwhile, 218 million
shares were traded and the market’s
activity reached JD188 million.
The financial sector accounted for
71 percent of the market’s activity
leaving the services and industrial
sectors to account for 15 percent
and 14 percent of the activity,
respectively.
The Mining & Extraction Index
was the top performing Industrial
Index after gaining 10.11 percent to
close at 1,984 points. Arab Potash
(APOT) led the mining & extraction
sector with a 24.17 percent gain
to close at JD20.96, making it the
market’s second best performer for
the period. APOT also announced
that it signed an export agreement
with Zuari Agro Chemicals Limited
for 230,000 metric tons of Potash.
Moreover, APOT’s quarterly net
income increased from JD23.1
million in the first quarter of 2014
to JD32.2 million in the first quarter
of this year.
Jordan Steel (JOST) was the
second best performing mining
& extraction stock after gaining
21.15 percent to close at JD0.63.
COMPANY
BEST PERFORMERS
WORST PERFORMERS
MOST ACTIVE
CLOSE
(JOD)
CHANGE
(%)
TURNOVER
(JOD)
TRADING ACTIVITIES
AMI: AB Invest Market Index
ASMI: AB Invest Smaller Market
Index
ASE: Amman Stock Exchange Index
Trailing P/E: Market capital weighted
P/E of index elements
MARKET BREADTH
55 115 52
ADVANCERS
DECLINERS
UNCHANGED
CLOSE
CHANGE (%)
YTD (%)
Y-o-Y (%)
Trailing P/E
ASEINDEX
2169.00
0.69
0.16
1.33
14.30
VOLUME (SHARES)
218,203,530
VOLUME (JD)
188,362,222
VOLUME (US$)
265,590,733
INDUSTRIES14%
SERVICES15%
FINANCIALS71%
TRADING VALUE
JORDAN DAIRY
ARAB POTASH COMPANY
SHARECO BROKERAGE COMPANY
7.50
20.96
0.67
0.52
0.49
0.89
1.15
0.89
0.20
39.66
24.17
24.07
-28.77
-26.87
-24.58
-2.54
-24.58
11.11
136,603
2,434,337
163,838
1,080
4,531,219
14,976,560`
37,000,261
14,976,560
14,910,147
NOPAR FOR TRADING & INVESTMENT
SPECIALIZED INVESTMENT COMPOUNDS
AL-TAJAMOUAT FOR CATERING & HOUSING PR
AD-DULAYL INDUSTRIAL PARK & REAL ESTATE
AL-TAJAMOUAT FOR CATERING & HOUSING PR
TAAMMER JORDAN HOLDING
In the first quarter of the year
JOST just broke even posting
around JD30,000 in net profits. In
comparison, JOST lost close to JD1
million in the first quarter of last
year. Continuing with the quarterly
results, Jordan Cement Factories
(JOCM) gained JD2.2 million in
net profits in the first quarter of the
year after losing JD4.6 million in
the same quarter last year. In other
news, Jordan Phosphate Mines
Company (JOPH) was the most
active mining & extraction stock
with JD3.5 million in trading.
The Food & Beverages Index
gained 4.63 percent and Jordan
Dairy (JDA) was the market’s
top performer after gaining
Meanwhile, the Textiles, Leathers,
and Clothing Index gained 2.36
percent as Jordan Worsted Mills
Company (JOWM) led the sector
with a 4.27 percent gain to close
at JD4.15. Moreover, Century
Investment Group (CEIG), which
dropped 1.9 percent to JD2.06, was
the most active industrial stock with
JD3.9 million in trading. Finally,
the Paper & Cardboard Industries
Index was the last rising industrial
sub-index. The index gained
2.13 percent as Jordan Paper and
Cardboard Factories (JOPC) led the
sector with a 6.9 percent gain to
close at JD0.31.
The Banking Index gained 0.77
percent as the rest of the financial
sub-indices declined. The Real
EstateIndexpostedtheheaviestloss
at 3.34 percent and the diversified
financial services and insurance
indices dropped 2.58 percent
and 1.17 percent, respectively.
Shareco Brokerage Company
(SHBC) was the top performing
financial stock and the market’s
third best performer after gaining
Meanwhile, Arab Bank (ARBK)
was the top performing banking
stock after gaining 17.62 percent to
close at JD6.61. ARBK increased
its capital by 71.2 million shares to
640.8 million shares through a stock
dividend and the shares were listed
on the Amman Stock Exchange
(ASE) during the period.
The real estate sector was the
market’s most active sub-sector
with JD97 million in trading.
AD-Dulayl Industrial Park and
Real Estate Company (IDMC)
led the market with JD37 million
in trading, and Al-Tajamouat for
Catering and Housing Projects
(JNTH) was the market’s second
most active stock with JD15 million
in trading. Meanwhile, ARBK was
the most active banking stock with
JD13.2 million in trading.
In other news, the quarterly net
income of Capital Bank of Jordan
(EXFB) dropped from JD10.6
million in the first quarter of last
year to JD6.0 million in the first
quarter of this year. At the same
time, the quarterly net income of
Arab Orient Insurance Company
(AOIC) increased from JD1.8
million to JD2.7 million.
Jordan Petroleum Refinery
(JOPT) made the news on several
occasions during the period. In a
disclosure, JOPT announced that its
quarterly net profits increased from
JD7.9 million in the first quarter of
2014 to JD8.8 million in the first
three months of this year. Moreover,
JOPT increased its capital from 62.5
million shares to 75 million shares
througha20percentstockdividend.
JOPT also gained 7.86 percent to
close at JD5.90, becoming the best
performing utilities & energy stock
and helping the sector’s index gain
4.93 percent to become the best
performing services sub-index
ahead of the Health Care Services
Index, which gained 4.85 percent.
In addition, JOPT was the most
active services stock with JD12.2
million in trading representing 43
percent of the services sector’s
trading activity.
PROVIDED BY:
AL ARABI INVESTMENT GROUP
“Member of the Arab Bank Group”
research@ab-invest.net
brokerage@ab-invest.net
The Mining &
Extraction Index was
thetop performing
Industrial Index after
gaining 10.11 percent

T
he Jordanian government’s
decision in 2012 to begin
a phased withdrawal of
electricity subsidies was undoubt-
edly a good one from the point of
view of the Kingdom’s strained
public finances.
But as a result, many business
sectors have faced higher electric-
ity costs and lower margins, and
the subsidy cuts have also proved
unpopular with many households.
Electricity prices have been rising
at a time when oil and gas prices
havebeentumblingglobally,making
Jordan one of the few countries in
the region to see its power costs rise.
Yetmanysuggestthatthesubsidy
cuts aren’t having as negative an
impact as they might have, with
Jordan able to benefit from the
deflationary effects of falling oil
and gas prices. At the same time,
the long-term benefits from the
Kingdom shedding this major fiscal
burden may well make the short-
term pain worthwhile.
With proven hydrocarbon
reserves of only around 1 million
barrels of oil and 200 billion cubic
feet of natural gas, Jordan imports
over 90 percent of its energy
needs—a quantity that’s equivalent
to around 40 percent of the state
budget, according to the US Energy
Information Administration.
In the past, Jordan bought oil
from Iraq and later, piped natural
gas from Egypt to the generators of
the Kingdom’s central power pro-
vider, the National Electric Power
Company (NEPCO). However, the
Iraqi deal is no longer in effect,
while the pipeline from Egypt has
beenrepeatedlysabotaged.Thishas
left Jordan more dependent than
ever on imported fuel oil for its
power stations.
In recent years, the higher price of
theseimportshasseverelyimpacted
NEPCO and the Jordanian Ministry
of Finance. The electricity subsidy
jumped from JD161 million in 2010
to an estimated JD1.1 billion in
2011, after the Arab Spring and the
first major disruption of Egyptian
supplies. The 2011 figure repre-
sented 3.8 percent of GDP, with
the total growing since. One of the
outcomes is that Jordan had to pay
out JD1.1 billion in 2014 to service
itsresultantburgeoningpublicdebt.
This means cutting subsidies has
been a major tool in the govern-
ment’s fight to cut its losses and
ensure long-term financial stability,
with all subsidies to be removed by
2017 as part of a phased withdraw-
al. Since the cuts began, the fiscal
deficit has fallen from JD1.8 billion
in 2012 to JD1.3 billion in 2013,
and an estimated JD1.1 billion in
2014. This improved fiscal position
evenallowedsometentativeexpan-
sion in the 2015 budget.
Cost of doing business
Street protests greeted the initial
decision to cut subsidies in 2012,
while fierce opposition in parlia-
ment to a further 15 percent hike in
electricity at the start of 2015 led to
a more moderate 7.5 percent rise.
Businesses have often had to
pass on the electricity hikes to their
customers with higher prices, and
suffer cuts in margins. This has
made some Jordanian products less
competitive, according to Toufic
Tabbara, CEO of Lafarge’s opera-
tions in Jordan. “Energy prices in
the Kingdom are very high, which
translates to higher end costs for
products. This means Jordan’s ce-
ment and concrete is priced higher
than regional and international
market prices, making it wholly
uncompetitive to export in the
region,” he said.
However,otherindustrialists
believe that electricity prices
are fair, given that other large
manufacturingcountriesintheregion,
such as Turkey and Israel, have higher
energy costs. “The problem is that the
industry and commercial tariffs pay
to subsidize housing electricity tariffs.
Households should pay more, but
the problem is people have become
accustomedtothisstatusquoandany
change leads to public backlash,” said
Sheldon Fink, CEO at PBI Aqaba,
which develops and manages the
Aqaba Industrial Estate.
Yet there is evidence that Jordan
may now be benefitting from its
subsidy cuts. As global oil and gas
prices tumbled last year, the price
of many commodities, including
food, fell too. This has kept infla-
tion down, despite the electricity
price hikes. Indeed, in January-
February 2015, consumer prices
eased by 0.8 percent. This has
helped households and businesses
shoulder the burden, as the costs of
other inputs have declined.
Moreover,Jordan’senergyimport
costs—and therefore its electric-
ity prices—should ease with the
openingofthenewliquefiednatural
gas (LNG) terminal at Aqaba.
Higher electricity prices have also
made the math on projects such as
Arab Potash Company’s natural gas
pipeline from Israel more attrac-
tive, while continuing to provide
incentives for companies to invest
in renewables, such as solar, and
energy saving schemes.
There is also room for further
cost efficiencies down the road.
Currently, the LNG, coupled with
thegasexpectedtosooncomefrom
Israel, will go straight to NEPCO
to power turbines and be made
into electricity, which will then be
sold on to businesses. One further
development might be to redirect
some of that flow to industry,
making more cost-efficient gas a
direct production input, rather than
obliging firms to buy power.
OxfordBusinessGroup
WordsByOliver Cornock
Oliver Cornock, Regional Editor
THE INSIDE EDGE
www.oxfordbusinessgroup.com
Subsidy Cuts:
Light at the End of the Tunnel?
They’ve been painful, but there are signs subsidy cuts
may have started to bear fruit.
cutting subsidies has been a majortool in
the government’s fightto cut its losses
and ensure long-term financial stability

ast month, Jordan, along
with most countries,
marked World Press
Freedom Day. We didn’t
rate well. The Freedom
House Index placed Jordan 155 out of
199 countries, with the general label
for the Kingdom being “not free,” the
Internet considered “partly free,” and
the press “not free.” That’s quite an
indictment for a country whose top
officials continue to brag about press
freedomandhowfreedomofexpression
is guaranteed under the Constitution.
The Amman-based Center for the
Protection and Freedom of Journalists
(CPFJ) issued a statement on the
occasion confirming that journalists
in Jordan and the rest of the Arab
world continue to suffer from various
kinds of violations, such as denial of
access to information, censorship,
and harassment by government
agencies. This is in addition to cases
of incarceration in publication-related
charges. Last year’s edition of the
CPFJ’s annual State of Media Freedom
in Jordan report claimed that over 70
percentofjournalistsadmittedtheyhad
been victims of containment attempts.
On the occasion of World Press
Freedom Day, top UN officials
issued a statement saying that
“freedom of expression and press
freedom are critical to the successful
implementation of good governance
and human rights around the world.”
They reaffirmed that both freedoms
were “essential” for the shaping
of a new global sustainable
development agenda.
The fact that Jordan is labeled “not
free” in the Freedom House Index
is depressing. In April, Jordanian
journalist Jamal Abdul Nabi was
incarcerated for publishing an article
online criticizing the Saudi-led air
strikes against Yemen. He was accused
of “disturbing relations with a foreign
state.” A top Muslim Brotherhood
leaderwasalsosentencedto18months
in prison by the State Security Court on
a similar charge. He had published an
opiniononhispersonalFacebookpage
criticizing the UAE’s position on the
Muslim Brotherhood.
The former Deputy Prime Minister
and Minister of Information Marwan
Muasher decried the state of Jordan’s
media freedom in an article he
published in Al-Ghad daily last
month. He wrote that even when
the Ministry of Information was
abrogatedin2003,othergovernment
organs took over its responsibilities
and continued to exert pressure on
the press and other media outlets. He
alsowrotethathehadrecommended
establishing independent boards
for Jordan TV, radio, and the
official news agency and that the
government should sell its shares in
the local daily press. None of these
recommendations was adopted,
even when the Royal Committee for
the National Agenda made similar
suggestions in 2006.
Mixed Signals
The Jordan Times published an article
recently which said the government
is planning to launch an independent
TV channel, replacing previous plans
to open a third channel affiliated with
the Jordan Radio and Television
Corporation (JRTVC).
“All I can say is that the Jordan Radio
and Television Law was amended to
enable the government to establish a
private TV station,” JRTVC Director
General Ramadan Rawashdeh told the
newspaper. Noting the new channel
will offer public service broadcasting,
he said it would be fully independent
from the JRTVC.
It’s not really clear how this would
work in practice. Public broadcasting
is usually financed by the public for
the sake of the public. To insert the
adjective “private” as a qualifier is
confusing.It’snotunderstoodhowthis
newprivate-publicTVstationwouldbe
financed at a time when the JRTVC is
inbadshapeduetothelackoffunding.
Another question is how truly free this
new TV channel would be, especially
atatimewhenofficialbroadcastoutlets
have been unable to raise the bar and
present themselves as more than just
government mouthpieces.
Judging Opinion Polls
A new poll carried out by the
University of Jordan’s Center for
Strategic Studies (CSS) found that up
to 88 percent of Jordanians consider
poverty, unemployment, and price
hikes the biggest challenges facing
the Kingdom. No news there, you
might say. We’ve always known the
economytopsthelistofmainconcerns
for Jordanians. The issue is how does
the government respond to these
genuine concerns?
On the other hand, Jordanians
expressed satisfaction with the
performance of security bodies, with
95 percent saying they feel safe at
their residences during the day and 90
percent feeling safe at their residence
at night. This supports the accepted
wisdom that Jordan is one of the safest
countries in the region.
However, over 80 percent consider
refugees a source of danger to the
Kingdom, while 77 percent said
migrant workers pose a threat to the
safety of the community.
In contrast, another CSS poll on the
popularityofthecurrentgovernment
was covered in different ways by
the local press. Addustour and Al-
Ghad said that the popularity of
Abdullah Ensour had risen from last
year and the public confidence in his
government was up. But the newly-
renegade Al-Rai, which has an axe to
grindwiththegovernment,somehow
read the poll results differently and
concluded the exact opposite.
WordsByOsamaal-Sharif
MediaandSociety
Sadly, there was no cause for Jordan to celebrate World Press Freedom Day.
NotFreeEnough L
even whenthe Ministry of Information
was abrogated in 2003, other government
organstook over its responsibilities and
continuedto exert pressure onthe press

refugees
World Refugee Day:
Standing
Together
W
orld Refugee Day once
againgivesustheopportu-
nity to reflect on the vital
role Jordan has played over the years
as a safe haven for so many of the
region’s traumatized and displaced.
Hundreds of thousands of Syrians
havefledintoJordansincetheircountry
began to violently fall apart in 2011. On
thewhole,they’vebeenmadewelcome.
But the challenge remains of how to
integrate them better to mitigate the
strain their arrival has had on Jordan’s
social and economic fabric.
For an idea of how best to move
forward, Venture is publishing the fol-
lowing insightful articles from UNHCR
Representative to Jordan Andrew
Harper, and UNHCR Goodwill
Ambassador and author of The Kite
Runner Khaled Hosseini.
In Syria, we
are witnessing
the worst
humanitarian
catastrophe
of the past 70
years
With its long and proud history of taking in the
displaced and dispossessed, Jordan has more
reason than most to mark World Refugee Day
on June 20.
By Dina AlWakeel

n June 20, we mark
World Refugee
Day in recognition
of the bravery of
the millions who
have been displaced and to renew our
commitmenttodomoretoprotectand
assist them. This year’s World Refugee
Day will be marked in the midst of an
unprecedented global displacement
crisis with record numbers fleeing
armed conflicts. Over 50 million men,
women,andchildrenhavebeenforced
from their homes.
Almost 12 million Syrians are now
displaced, either within Syria or as
refugees in surrounding states. Half of
thosedisplacedarechildren,equivalent
to the entire population of Jordan.
Every day, more Syrians are being
killed, displaced, and wounded, with
thechancetheywillbeabletoreturnto
their homes becoming more and more
remote. After four years of conflict and
destruction in Syria, it’s even more
critical for the international community
torenewandstrengthenitscommitment
and support to the people of Syria, and
to those countries generously hosting
Syrian refugees. Jordan has a proud
history of providing sanctuary to those
fleeing conflict, but this generosity can
only be sustained if the international
community raises its commitment to
matchtheincreasingneedsofrefugees
and Jordanian host communities.
In Syria, we are witnessing the worst
humanitariancatastropheofthepast70
years, and the response, in support of
bothrefugeesandofhostcommunities,
needs to match the exceptional nature
of the conflict.
Given the unprecedented and
increasinglyprotractedcharacterofthe
crisis we need to not only renew our
commitmenttoreinforcingthestability
and security of asylum states such as
Jordan, but also to invest in unlocking
thepotentialofrefugeestocontributeto
their host communities. The response
needs to acknowledge the new demo-
graphic and economic pressures on
thegroundsothatweaddressboththe
immediateandlonger-termimperatives
of the crisis. In the immediate term,
the Syrian crisis has, above all others,
served to illustrate the inadequacy of
today’sdevelopmentcooperationpoli-
cies in a time of multiplying conflicts.
TheUNHCRnotesthesupportreceived
by host communities accommodating
large numbers of refugees falls well
short of covering the costs, no matter
the generosity of the humanitarian
response. That’s why the UNHCR is
todaypressingbilateralandmultilateral
donors, and international financial
institutions to review existing criteria
and priorities that exclude Jordan
or Lebanon from accessing World
Bank grants because of their status as
middle-income countries. At the same
time we recognize that the myriad of
competing global crises is putting a
massive strain on a finite international
aid budget. Donors are demanding
thatweputinplaceamoresustainable
strategy to support refugees, while at
the same time protecting and reinforc-
ing Jordan’s stability and security.
In the longer-term, the UNHCR
is advocating for a policy shift from
short-termadhocinterventionstowards
one that will be mutually beneficial
for refugees and host communities,
reflecting refugees as individuals who
can contribute rather than as liabilities.
For too long, the perception has been
of refugees as “takers,” draining the
resourcesoftheirhosts,wheninfactthe
reality is more complex; one in which
refugees are often not provided the
chance to contribute or give back to
their communities.
The UNHCR acknowledges that
accommodating refugees represents
a major cost to host communities,
particularly during the initial phase of
an emergency. But it’s also true that
overthecourseofprotracteddisplace-
ment,thecontributionsofrefugeesto
theeconomytendtoincrease.Already
tensofthousandsofrefugeesarework-
ing without authorization in Jordan,
leading to greater vulnerability, as they
risk being exploited by unscrupulous
employers who withhold payment or
forcethemtoworkinunsafeconditions.
Arecentvulnerabilityassessmentcom-
missionedbytheUNHCRindicatedthat
86 percent of refugees live under the
official Jordanian poverty level. If we
recognize that there is a symbiotic rela-
tionshipbetweenprosperityandsecurity
at all levels, then we need to take these
findings seriously. The challenge is to
bring those working, or who have in
demand skills, out of the grey or black
marketandintotheformalworkplaceso
thattheycanultimatelycontributetothe
revenue and tax base of Jordan.
Unlocking refugee potential is
obviously extremely sensitive at a time
of relative high local unemployment.
Butgiventhehundredsofthousandsof
othermigrantworkerspresentinJordan,
many of whom work under the radar,
couldwenotgivethesameopportunity
to refugees when they would only
compete with other foreign workers?
Apart from the pure humanitarian
considerations, this would result in a
massive increase in capital retention.
As many studies have indicated,
muchofwhatmigrantworkersearnis
sent back to their country of origin in
theformofremittances.Forrefugees,
what’s earned is spent in the country
of asylum. Given the importance of
capitalinvestmenttoJordan,retaining
andcapitalizingtothemaximumthat
investment is paramount.
In order to unlock the potential of
refugees we must assess and agree on
theareaswherethere’snocompetition
withtheJordanianhostcommunity,and
allow refugees to plug existing gaps in
theJordanianlabormarket.Othermea-
sures may target skilled Syrian labor
at the industrial zones in the northern
governorates, or encourage Syrians
to sponsor refugees to start their own
businesseswithadditionalincentivesto
employ Jordanians. Moreover, Syrians
are known for being skilled artisans
and as we have seen in Zaatari refugee
camp, if they are provided with the
opportunitytosupportthemselves,this
notonlyreinforcestheirdignitybutalso
provides valuable services and goods
to their local community. A proactive
approach would positively impact the
local economy by increasing funds
availabletorefugeestopurchasegoods
andservicesfromJordanianbusinesses
and farms, thereby bolstering jobs and
investment. For the refugees, it would
guide them away from the potential
exploitation and abuse in the informal
labormarketandequipthosewhowork
to voluntarily return home, once this
becomespossible,withtheresourcesto
do so. It would also mean that parents
would not have to send their children
outtobeg,orsendthemtobedhungry
every night.
The theme adopted by the UNHCR
in Jordan this World Refugee Day is
“Standing Together,” reflecting the
resilience of the refugees and host
communitiesinJordanandthesteadfast
commitment of the Jordanian govern-
ment in safeguarding the rights and
well-being of refugees.
The UNHCR believes we can offer
a new vision that supports the host
community in offering sanctuary
to those fleeing the horrors of war,
while at the same time empowering
refugees with the means to support
themselves and give something
back to their hosts. In providing the
opportunitytorefugeestocontribute
rather than to be the recipients of
aid, we ask for no more than how we
would like to be treated if we were
in their situation.
Jordan has a proud history of providing
sanctuary to those fleeing conflict,
but this generosity can only be
sustained if the international community
raises its commitment
The challenge is to bring those working,
or who have in demand skills, out of
the grey or black market and into the
formal workplace
O
refugees
Andrew Harper
UNHCR Representative to Jordan
The response, in support of both
refugees and of host communities,
needs to match the exceptional nature
of the conflict

recently took my twelve year-old
daughtertoseeAvengers:Ageof
Ultron. I paid nearly $60 for tick-
ets,popcorn,sodas,andsnacks–it
would have cost $120 if my wife
andsonhadjoinedus.Onehundredand
twenty dollars for a couple of hours of
3Dsuperheromayhem.Abouttheprice
of a pair of sneakers.
But for a family of Syrian refugees in
Jordan? That is the difference between
havingahomeandlivingonthestreets,
thedifferencebetweenyourkidsgoing
to school and having to send them out
to work. It’s the difference between
just about coping and holding the
family together, and having to resort to
dangerous survival strategies like early
marriage,prostitution,even,inextremis,
returning to Syria. Can we be surprised
that sometimes the knock-on effect of
such high risk decisions leads to the
even higher risk decision that some
Syrian families are forced to make, by
undertaking the treacherous journey
across the Mediterranean Sea to seek
safety in Europe?
Two days before I took my daughter
to the movies, I sat with a Syrian
refugee named Hassan, the 75-year-old
patriarch of a family of 15. Two years
ago, Hassan and his clan uncoiled
themselvesfromtheirrootsnearDaraa,
Syria, and moved to the basement of
a dilapidated building in the Jordanian
city of Madaba. Like 85 percent of
Syrian refugees in Jordan, Hassan’s
familychosetoliveinanurbanenviron-
ment, a setting more familiar to them
than the artificial setting of a camp,
despitetheservicesprovidedincamps,
and despite the fact that urban life for
refugeescanoftenproveanundignified,
enormously daunting task.
Indeed, the UNHCR estimates
that two-thirds of Syrian non-camp
refugees live below Jordan’s poverty
line, and one-out-of-six below the
abject poverty line. Hassan, a spirited
man with a creased but winsome face,
told me his family savings have long
evaporated. Like the overwhelming
majority of Syrians in Jordan, he has
no work permit and thus little income
with which to pay rent, by far the
biggestexpenseforrefugeesinJordan.
“How do you survive?” I wondered
aloud,andHassanpointedtohisyoung
daughter-in-law, Fatima, a mother
of eight children, whose husband—
Hassan’s eldest son—was detained
in Syria four years ago and has since
disappeared without a trace.
Ironically, Fatima’s loss is also the
family’s lifeline, because it has qualified
her for the UNHCR’s cash assistance
program,whichtargetsthemostvulner-
able Syrian refugees living in Jordanian
cities. Through this program, she
monthly receives $170 that the family
uses to help pay rent, buy food and
school supplies for Fatima’s children.
Fatima and her family are one of 21,000
Syrian families who would likely be
homeless if not for this innovative and
highly effective program.
The question of cash versus
in-kind donation is an old debate in
the humanitarian world. A donor’s
impulse to send shoes or blankets is an
understandableone.Buttherealityisall
itemsarearepresentationofmonetary
value. Items have a price tag and they
oftengetsoldinordertoserveapriority
need.Cash,Ilearnedthroughspeaking
to Hassan and other refugees, gives
refugeesfreedomofchoiceandrestores
a sense of dignity, enabling them to
make their own decisions to best meet
their families’ specific needs.
It’s also a much speedier method of
assistance. Unlike items that have to be
shipped,received,secured,warehoused,
anddistributedthroughspecialcenters,
a process that can take weeks or even
months, cash reaches the intended
recipient in a matter of days, if not
hours. And there’s a huge cost saving
with cash, too.
The UNHCR’s Lifeline Appeal
program makes a convincing case
for direct monetary assistance being
far more cost effective than in-kind
donations. In Jordan, out of every $100
that the UNHCR receives, almost $98
is delivered to the families that need
it. That’s almost impossible to achieve
with in-kind assistance. In Jordan, the
Khaled Hosseini
Goodwill Ambassador for the UNHCR
I
cashassistanceprogramalsoeliminates
the potential for fraud, as it uses no
ATM cards or PIN codes, which can
be lost or stolen. I accompanied Fatima
to a nearby bank, where I watched her
withdraw cash from an ATM machine
that uses state-of-the-art iris scanning
biometrictechnology,ensuringthatonly
she can receive the donated cash.
Research shows that refugees like
Fatima use 98 percent of cash assis-
tance on basic needs, mostly on rent,
but also food, health, and children’s
needs. Cash also helps the local
economy,andenablesrefugeestobet-
terintegrateintotheirhostcommunity.
Since it’s a less visible form of aid
than in-kind assistance, there’s less
stigma attached to it; no long queues
at public distribution centers, and no
vouchers in supermarkets. It can help
lessensomeofthetensionscreatedby
theenormousstrainthathasbeenput
on the local economy, infrastructure,
andsocietysincethestartoftheSyrian
refugee crisis.
I asked Hassan how his family would
cope without the monthly cash assis-
tance.Hesmiled,thensighed,asiffrom
a deep well of weariness. “Well, God is
here,” he said.
That was answer enough for me.
refugees
the UNHCR estimates that two-thirds
of Syrian non-camp refugees live below
Jordan’s poverty line Cash gives refugees freedom of choice
and restores a sense of dignity, enabling
them to make their own decisions to best
meet their families’ specific needs

coverstory
Orange Jordan CEO Jean-Francois Thomas has just unveiled
Essentials 2020, a far-reaching strategic plan that lays out
the company’s vision for the telco sector over the coming five
years, with a core focus on the customer.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALA'A SUKHNY
Essentials
2020
T
hroughEssentials2020,Orange
Jordan aims to vastly improve
the customer experience by
pumping hundreds of millions of
dinars into its fixed and wireless
networks by the end of the decade.
This process already began with the
telco’s recent introduction of 4G,
and Thomas said both private and
enterprise customers should expect
other major developments and
announcements soon.
Orange Jordan, along with the rest
of the Kingdom’s telco industry,
has been through a tough few years;
mobile communication apps have
shaken up business models, while
relations with the government have
been strained as margins were
squeezed by ever higher taxes and
operating costs. At one point, some
began to wonder if Orange even saw
a future for itself in Jordan. Thomas
hopes to use Essentials 2020 to turn a
page on all the past uncertainty, and
reaffirm his company’s desire to be at
the heart of the Jordanian market.
What are the main ideas behind
Essentials 2020?
Every five years we have an exercise
in strategic planning at a group level,
as it’s absolutely necessary to know
where we are going. Our group CEO
Stephane Richard wanted to share
our vision with the stakeholders,
which include financial analysts, the
media, our partners, our staff, and
our customers. So on March 17 at a
major event in Paris, he unveiled our
Essentials 2020 strategic plan. As the
name suggests, the strategy reflects
our commitment to connect people
with all that is essential to them.
We want to offer an unmatched
customer experience. The telecom
sector has often got by on just being
good enough. We want to get out
of that zone. Putting the strategy
in front of everybody is also a way
pushingeveryoneinternallytodeliver.
We made the bet that if we manage
to be the best in terms of overall
customerexperience,thenourexisting
customers will remain with us and
new customers will come on board.
A major pillar of the strategy is
offering enriched connectivity. We’re
going back to the basics in terms of
being able to offer the customer the
best possible connectivity. Over the
nextfiveyears,weplantospendmore
than JD300 million on developing
our networks on the fixed side and
on the mobile side. This amount is
roughly 50 percent more than we
have typically invested over a similar
period in the past.
There was talk that you were
pulling out of the market. What
message do you hope to send with
this investment?
There’s an old saying that I like
which goes: “The ships are safe in
harbor.” But that’s not what ships are
made for. If we want to be part of the
game we can’t sit on the fence. We
have to invest more in our networks
because we believe this is the only
waywecanprovideabettercustomer
experience. Either we disappear, or
we survive. The only way to survive
is to improve significantly the
customerexperienceandgainmarket
sharebyconvertingnewcustomersto
our services.
What is this money going to be
Over the next five years,we plan to spend
more than JD300 million on developing
our networks on the fixed side and on the
mobile side

invested in?
Last month’s introduction of 4G
services was a real milestone for us.
We think this country deserves 4G
and we couldn’t just leave Jordanians
with one choice of provider. We
bought frequencies in the 1800 MHz
spectrum and selected Huawei to
build the new network. Today, we
are covering most of Amman. The
rollout will be extremely rapid, with
nationwide coverage by the end of
Q3. What’s more, we’re using part of
our existing 900 MHz band to boost
our 3G services, which is where most
customers will likely remain for the
immediate future.
What will demand be like for 4G?
It’s difficult to say. But I believe
that anybody with a 4G compatible
handset will try and go for 4G. The
experience is totally different. It’s
like if you buy a Ferrari and just
drive it on little country roads. If
you have a Samsung S6 or an iPhone
6, you will want to take the full
advantage of its capabilities.
What’s happening with your fiber
network?
We’re also massively boosting our
roll out with more outdoor DSLAMS
(Digital Subscriber Line Access
Multiplexer). Without getting too
technical, they’re basically outdoor
cabinetsthatgivepeoplelivingwithin
a 2 to 3 kilometer radius access to
faster ADSL bandwidth and a fiber
experienceofferingInternetspeedsof
up to 80 megabits.
At one point in time, we were
asking ourselves if we should go fully
wirelessandabandontheuniqueasset
wehaveintheformofourcopperwire
network. We decided to develop both
tracks. Today, our fixed broadband
network continues to be immensely
successful. We have been broadening
our customer base and increasing
our Internet speeds. If you live in
a household with multiple devices
and want to stream Internet via a
big screen TV, fiber is still the best
solution. We will be the only ones to
provide this convergence. We will not
go fixed everywhere in the country
–we will have to make choices. But in
majorcitiesandmajorurbanareas,we
can go with both.
Also, in the next five years, we
will go all IP. This means all our
legacy telecom switches, which have
been there for 25 to 30 years, will
be replaced. They’re still working
perfectly, but they’re consuming a
lot of power and it’s getting harder
and more expensive to maintain the
outdated technology. Full IP means
we’ll be able to offer new services and
better convergence.
What about improving customer
service?
We have multiple contact points with
our customers. The management of
these contact points is complex. We
usedtohaveacallcenterforfixedand
another for mobile. By the end of the
year, we’ll have all our call centers
in one building. We are doing this
due to the launch of our conversion
offers, where we package together
our services. Today, we can bundle
together fixed line, the Internet, and
post-paid mobile subscriptions. We’re
also aiming to include the prepaid
offers in the near future.
We have launched an app called
“My Orange,” which allows people
to manage different elements of
their subscriptions through their
smartphones. This app has already
beendownloadedabout50,000times.I
won’t go so far as to say the PC is dead,
butpeoplearenowinteractingontheir
smartphones like never before. Unlike
apps developed by our competitors,
real transactions can be carried out on
ours. You can upgrade, buy bundles,
buydata,andaccessinformationabout
your account. We’re aiming to have
50 percent of our transactions with our
customers done online.
What about enterprise services?
Technology is quickly disrupting
business models everywhere. The taxi
industry,forexample,hasbeentotally
disrupted in a matter of a couple of
years by Uber. Why? The reason is
that everyone has a smartphone in
their pocket, which is changing the
relationship between the taxi and the
customer. I recently met with the CEO
of one of Jordan’s major banks, which
has branches across the Middle East.
They used to operate independently,
but now they want to establish a
single tech center in Amman which
can upgrade software for the whole
network of banks. This has only
been possible because the cost of
bandwidth is going down and its
reliability is going up. Orange has an
important role to play in supporting
this transformation. It means
changing our own business model
in terms of what we bring to the
customer. Today, we are delivering
connectivity. We want to go one step
further and begin delivering security,
cloud, and managed services. We
want the customer to be able to
concentrate on their core business,
and rely on us to take care of their IT
connectivity issues.
Is there a risk of stretching
yourselves too thin by taking on all
this?
If we don’t differentiate ourselves,
people will just switch to another
operator like they’re shopping for any
other commodity. We believe there’s
room for us to expand outside what
we are doing in our core business. But
it’s crucial not to jump too far away
from your core business. In the past,
ourgrouptriedtopushintoproducing
content, competing with the likes of
Canal Plus and BSkyB. It’s not our
business to do that and we failed. It
was too far removed from what we do
thebest,whichiscontentdelivery.Our
successfulmusicstreamingpartnership
with Anghami is a good example of
what can be achieved. Our group is
also looking to develop services for
wearables, the Internet of Things, and
machine-to-machinetechnology.They
all show great potential.
coverstory
We think this country deserves 4G and we
couldn’t just leave Jordanians with one
choice of provider

june

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