Assignment- Foreign Business Language French

Submitted By: Praveen Pathak A180 2011 343 Second Semester, Section-D, MBA-IB

Introduction:
Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing control of the Dead Sea. Jordan's only port is at its south-western tip, at the Gulf of Aqaba, which is shared with Israel, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. Over half of Jordan is covered by the Arabian Desert. However, the western part of Jordan is arable land and forests. Jordan is part of the Fertile Crescent. The capital city is Amman. King Abdullah I ruled Jordan after independence from Britain. After the assassination of King Abdullah I in 1951, his son King Talal ruled briefly. King Talal's major accomplishment was the Jordanian constitution. King Talal was removed from the throne in 1952 due to mental illness. At that time his son, Hussein, was too young to rule, and hence a committee ruled over Jordan. After Hussein reached 18, he ruled Jordan as king from 1953 to 1999, surviving a number of challenges to his rule, drawing on the loyalty of his military, and serving as a symbol of unity and stability in Jordan. King Hussein ended martial law in 1991 and legalized political parties in 1992. In 1989 and 1993, Jordan held free and fair parliamentary elections. Controversial changes in the election law led Islamist parties to boycott the 1997 elections. King Abdullah II succeeded his father Hussein following the latter's death in February 1999. Abdullah moved quickly to reaffirm Jordan's peace treaty with Israel and its relations with the United States. Abdullah, during the first year in power, refocused the government's agenda on economic reform. The 1952 Constitution provided for the establishment of the bicameral National Assembly of Jordan (Majlis al-Umma). The Parliament consists of two Chambers: The Chamber of Deputies (Majlis al-Nuwaab) and the Senate (Majlis al-Aayan; literally, Assembly of Notables). The Senate has 60 Senators, all of whom are directly appointed by the King,[51] while the Chamber of Deputies/House of Representatives has 120 elected members representing 12 constituencies. Of the 120 members of the Lower Chamber, 12 seats are reserved for women, 9 seats are reserved for Christian candidates, 9 seats are reserved for Bedouin candidates, and 3 seats are reserved for Jordanians of Chechen or Circassian descent. The Constitution ensures that the Senate cannot be more than half the size of the Chamber of Deputies. The constitution does not provide a strong system of checks and balances within which the Jordanian Parliament can assert its role in relationship to the monarch. During the suspension of Parliament between 2001 and 2003, the scope of King Abdullah II's power was demonstrated with the passing of 110 temporary laws. Two of such laws dealt with election law and were seen to reduce the power of Parliament Jordan's legal system is based on French code law system via the Egyptian civil laws while Islamic law is limited to civic status legislation for Muslims. Religious minority civic status is regulated by respective religious courts. Judicial review of legislative acts occurs in a special High Tribunal. It has not accepted International Court of Justice jurisdiction. Jordan has multi-party politics. There are over 30 political parties in the Jordan from a wide range of positions ranging from extreme left (Jordanian Communist Party) to extreme right (Islamic Action Front). Article 97 of Jordan's constitution guarantees the independence of the judicial branch, clearly stating that judges are 'subject to no authority but that of the law.' While the king must approve the appointment and dismissal of judges, in practice these are supervised by the Higher Judicial Council.

The Jordanian legal system draws upon civil traditions as well as Islamic law and custom. Article 99 of the Constitution divides the courts into three categories: civil, religious and special. The civil courts deal with civil and criminal matters in accordance with the law, and they have jurisdiction over all persons in all matters, civil and criminal, including cases brought against the government. The civil courts include Magistrate Courts, Courts of First Instance, Courts of Appeal, High Administrative Courts and the Supreme Court. Central bank Central Bank of Jordan International Reserves US$ 12.161 billion (Source: IMF; Data updated: December 2009) Gross Domestic Product - GDP US$ 29.964 billion (2010 estimate) GDP (Purchasing Power Parity) 36.04 billion of International dollars (2010 estimate) Real GDP growth 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 4.3% 5.3% 5.8% 4.2% 8.6% 8.1% 7.9% 8.5%

2008 7.6%

2009 2.3%

2010 3.1%

2011* 3.3%

GDP per capita - current prices S$ 4,788 (2009 estimate) GDP per capita - PPP $5,759 International Dollars (2009 estimate) GDP (PPP) - share of world total 1980 1990 2000 2010 2015** 0.04% **Forecast GDP - composition by sector agriculture: 3.5% industry: 29.9% services: 66.5% (2009 estimate) 0.03% 0.04% 0.05% 0.05%

Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (% of GDP) N/A Inflation 2008 13.9%(2008) Unemployment rate 2008 2009 12.7% 12.9%

2009 -0.7%

2010 5%

2011* 6.1%

2010 12.5%(2009)

2011* 12.5%

*Estimate Household saving rates N/A (Data released on November 2010) Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP) 2007 2008 2009 71.1% *Estimate Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP) 2007 2008 2009 2010* -4.5% *Estimate -4.1% **Forecast -8.1% -6% 58.1% 61.4%

2010 60.5%

2011* 62%

2011** -5.3%

Government bond ratings Standard & Poor's: BB/Stable/B Moody's rating: Ba2 Moody's outlook: STA (Foreign Currency Government Bond Ratings; Data last updated Nov 2010) Market value of publicly traded shares 2007 2008 US$41.216 billion US$35.847 billion

2009 US$31.865 billion

Largest companies in Jordan Arab Bank (Banking), Arab Potash (Chemicals) (2010) an's legal system is based on French code law system via the Egyptian civil laws while Islamic law is limited to civic status legislation for Muslims. Religious minority civic status is regulated by respective religious courts. Judicial review of legislative acts occurs in a special High Tribunal. It has not accepted International Court of Justice jurisdiction. Jordan has multi-party politics. There are over 30 political parties in the Jordan from a wide range of positions ranging from extreme left (Jordanian Communist Party) to extreme right (Islamic Action Front).

Article 97 of Jordan's constitution guarantees the independence of the judicial branch, clearly stating that judges are 'subject to no authority but that of the law.' While the king must approve the appointment and dismissal of judges, in practice these are supervised by the Higher Judicial Council. The Jordanian legal system draws upon civil traditions as well as Islamic law and custom. Article 99 of the Constitution divides the courts into three categories: civil, religious and special. The civil courts deal with civil and criminal matters in accordance with the law, and they have jurisdiction over all persons in all matters, civil and criminal, including cases brought against the government. The civil courts include Magistrate Courts, Courts of First Instance, Courts of Appeal, High Administrative Courts and the Supreme Court.

Topic Rankings Starting a Business Dealing with Construction Permits Getting Electricity Registering Property Getting Credit Protecting Investors Paying Taxes Trading Across Borders Enforcing Contracts Resolving Insolvency

Doing Business 2012 Rank

Doing Business 2011 Rank 95 98 93 94 36 35 101 103 150 130 122 120 21 19 58 74 130 130 104 104

Change in Rank 3 1 -1 2 -20 -2 -2 16 No change No change

Table here shows the ease of doing business in Jordan with respect to above written factors.