The Report: Jordan 2014

The Report: Jordan 2014
Author: Oxford Business Group
Publisher: Oxford Business Group
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2014-10-30
Genre: Banks and banking
ISBN: 1910068144

A number of Jordan’s key economic indicators have improved over the last year and GDP is forecast to grow by 3.5% in 2014. Jordan’s reliance on energy imports is being addressed with increased focus on domestic oil shale reserves and nuclear energy, while plans to build a pipeline through the country from Iraq will provide a stable oil supply at discounted rates. Jordan’s expanding population has put pressure on state services, particularly health, where the private sector is expected to play an increasingly prominent role. Tourism revenues rose in 2014 and, with the unveiling of a new arrivals terminal at Aqaba International Airport and plans for a national rail network, these are expected to rise further in the coming years. All in all, continued political stability, large scale transportation developments, the availability of a young, educated workforce and government efforts to reduce the fiscal deficit and the country’s reliance on energy imports should ensure Jordan maintains its strong position in the region.

The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Travel and Tourism

The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Travel and Tourism
Author: Linda L. Lowry
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Total Pages: 2878
Release: 2016-09-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1483368963

Taking a global and multidisciplinary approach, The SAGE International Encyclopedia of Travel and Tourism brings together a team of international scholars to examine the travel and tourism industry, which is expected to grow at an annual rate of four percent for the next decade. In more than 500 entries spanning four comprehensive volumes, the Encyclopedia examines the business of tourism around the world paying particular attention to the social, economic, environmental, and policy issues at play. The book examines global, regional, national, and local issues including transportation, infrastructure, the environment, and business promotion. By looking at travel trends and countries large and small, the Encyclopedia analyses a wide variety of challenges and opportunities facing the industry. In taking a comprehensive and global approach, the Encyclopedia approaches the field of travel and tourism through the numerous disciplines it reaches, including the traditional tourism administration curriculum within schools of business and management, economics, public policy, as well as social science disciplines such as the anthropology and sociology. Key features include: More than 500 entries authored and signed by key academics in the field Entries on individual countries that details the health of the tourism industry, policy and planning approaches, promotion efforts, and primary tourism draws. Additional entries look at major cities and popular destinations Coverage of travel trends such as culinary tourism, wine tourism, agritourism, ecotourism, geotourism, slow tourism, heritage and cultural-based tourism, sustainable tourism, and recreation-based tourism Cross-references and further readings A Reader’s Guide grouping articles by disciplinary areas and broad themes

Development Evaluation in Times of Turbulence

Development Evaluation in Times of Turbulence
Author: Ray C. Rist
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2013-04-19
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0821398911

The presence of turbulence in multiple areas of our society--food, fuel, and finances-being but three critical areas presently being impacted means that long-held assumptions are no longer true, that the past is not prologue, and that the future is not clear. And enter into this unstable present the discipline of evaluation-a discipline formed and shaped in the past fifty years of stability, little turbulence, and strong assumptions that everything will go according to plan. If things do not go well, it is because of either a poor theory of change on how to bring about positive outcomes, or weak efforts at implementation. It is not because of the stormy present upsetting our quiet past. As it is, conventional evaluation behavior and beliefs are ill suited for these times. The transformational nature of the 'Arab Spring' is just one arena in which it is clear that a business as usual approach to evaluation is entirely inappropriate. The papers in this volume are from the 2011 Global Assembly of the International Development Evaluation Association (IDEAS). Nearly 350 development evaluators from eighty-five countries came together in Amman, Jordan to discuss and analyze the consequences of turbulence on evaluation. The intent of these papers is to systematically assess what changes have come during this time of turbulence and how these changes are impacting the craft of development evaluation. To be clear: this book is not about how to assess the impacts of crises on development and on people's lives. It is about the meaning of a changed world and changed assumptions on the concepts and methods used in evaluation.

Fixing Fashion

Fixing Fashion
Author: Michael Lavergne
Publisher: New Society Publishers
Total Pages: 243
Release: 2015-10-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1550925954

Is global fashion a wolf in sheep’s clothing? An industry insider takes a hard look at the apparel trade. With sales of more than five hundred billion US dollars a year, the fashion industry is one of the most important sectors of the global economy, employing millions of men, women, and often children in the developing world. And yet its record is far from pretty. The collapse of Bangladesh's Rana Plaza with some thirty-five hundred desperately underpaid garment workers inside was a shocking example of what can go wrong when manufacturers ruthlessly cut costs while turning a blind eye to labor rights and workplace safety. Written by an apparel industry insider, Fixing Fashion argues that the true legacy of Rana Plaza is increased awareness of how cheap, disposable clothing has led time and time again to serious community, environmental, and labor rights abuses. Ethical supply chain professional Michael Lavergne explores: The birth of the global apparel trade, from colonialism and slavery to today's neoliberal trade agenda How the infamous race to the bottom has led to some of the worst social and environmental excesses in the global apparel industry The rise of a new breed of entrepreneurs and stakeholders driving change and transparency across international supply chains By taking a hard look at the very real impacts of our consumer culture's addiction to disposable fashion, Fixing Fashion challenges each of us to take full responsibility for understanding the hidden cost of our clothes. Michael Lavergne is an ethical supply chain professional committed to sustainable fashion industry and the protection of labor, environmental and human rights in the developing world.

Jordan

Jordan
Author: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
Publisher: Food & Agriculture Org.
Total Pages: 181
Release: 2018-06-27
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN:

In Jordan, water — an essential factor of economic growth and social development — is scarce. The imbalance between the supply and demand of this precious resource is evidently at the cost of over-abstracted groundwater. The agriculture and food industry is the main water consumer — irrigation alone contributes to about 60 percent of the total water usage in the country. Huge investments have been made to mitigate this imbalance as much as possible and others are in the pipeline or are being planned. Significant improvements are also required from the water demand side in order to move towards a sustainable equilibrium. The main objective of this report is to both indicate ways for Jordan to move away from all unsustainable agricultural and food activities (high water consumers and water inefficient), and suggest paths toward more water efficient and productive solutions.