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(MENAFN - Jordan Times) Jordan's Internet prices are amongst the highest in the region and the IT sector has become a significant contributor to the GDP, according to the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology.
The Kingdom imposes a 16 per cent sales tax on Internet, while most other countries in the region the tax ranges from zero to 5 per cent, Information and Communications Technology Minister Bassem Roussan said Sunday.
"The Kingdom ranks second in terms of sales tax on the Internet only to Morocco, which applies a 20 per cent sales tax on Internet, " the minister noted.
The National ICT Strategy, launched in July 2007, seeks to increase the number of people who use the Internet up to 50 per cent from the current 11 per cent.
To realise this objective, there is a need to reduce Internet service prices and sales tax down to 5 per cent, the minister stressed.
In an interview with the Jordan News Agency, Petra, Roussan said information and communications technology revenues by the end of 2006 amounted to $1.2 billion, accounting for 12 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP).
"The communication sector is a vital one and there are plenty of chances of success and development in the field," the minister said, adding that His Majesty King Abdullah focuses on investments in the sector as it is a main player in the development process.
In the interview, the minister said some 18,000 employees currently work at the sector, while the sector makes available 60,000 indirect jobs.
Government revenues generated from direct and indirect taxes on the sector amounted to JD368 million in 2006 compared to JD120 million, the minister said, underling the need to remove obstacles restraining the sector, which is a main supplier to the country's treasury, according to Petra.
The minister also referred to the mobile operators sector in the Kingdom, noting that the field is witnessing strong and large competition in prices and that prices of mobile services in the Kingdom are among the lowest prices in the region.
The National ICT Strategy, the outcome of joint efforts by the Information Technology Association of Jordan the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology and the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission also looks to increase employment in the sector to 35,000 jobs and double the sector's current revenues by the year 2011.
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