Ethics in Business Award Ceremony 2024… Strengthening the Local Market: Toward a more Competitive, Shock-Resilient, and Sustainable Jordanian Economy
The Ethics in Business Award is a civil society-led initiative implemented in partnership between The Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) and Jordanian Businessmen Association (JBA (. It aims to recognize the efforts of small, medium, and large companies in Jordan to achieve excellence concerning principles of sustainable entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility. According to S. Schaltegger, sustainable entrepreneurship is “the realization of sustainability innovations aimed at the mass market and providing benefit to the larger part of society.” This award was launched in 2023, and honors business leaders for their role in contributing to a successful, productive, and attractive business environment for work and investment in Jordan at the local and international levels and for setting the foundation of ethical leadership in the business sector in Jordan, which contributed to its modern economy. These business leaders are also signatories to the voluntary Goodwill declaration “Towards a Common Goal”. The 2023 edition of the Ethics Award honored each of the leading institutions participating in the initiative: “Jordan Phosphate Mines Company, Ernst & Young Jordan, Maltrans Shipping Agencies Co., Petra University, Marwan Al-Kurdi & Partners Co., Al-Salam International Company for Transport and Trade PLC, National Arab Motors, Tadawul Brokerage and Financial Investments Forum, Haider Murad & Sons Investment Group, Kawar Group, Al-Nayi for Informational and Communicational Consulting, Naouri Group, Marcelia for Information Technology – SkyTech, Adaa Sustainable Development Consultants, Studio R, Alfa Center for Studies, Durrat Al-Manal, Bilad Al-Atfal Nursery and Kindergarten, Dermaliscio Cosmetics, and Bloom Dead Sea Gift Enterprise”. Each year a theme is selected based on the Jordanian national priorities, the theme for the 2024, award is “Strengthening the local market: Towards a more competitive, Shock-resilient and Sustainable Jordanian Economy”.
The Ethics in Business Award Ceremony 2025 Future Forward: Celebrating Champions of Localized and Sustainable Growth Booklet
The Ethics in Business Award is a civil society-led initiative implemented in partnership between The Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) and Jordanian Businessmen Association (JBA). It aims to recognize the efforts of small, medium, and large companies in Jordan to achieve excellence concerning principles of sustainable entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility. The Business Ethics Award, launched in 2023, aims to provide a platform to highlight the role of the private sector in advancing decent work, local opportunities, labor rights, and inclusive and sustainable economic growth. These business leaders are also signatories to the voluntary Goodwill declaration “Towards a Common Goal”. The 2023 edition of the Ethics Award honored each of the leading institutions participating in the initiative, and the 2024 edition´s theme was “Strengthening the local market: Towards a more competitive, Shock-resilient and Sustainable Jordanian Economy,” also honored renowned contributors to these efforts. The 2025 Award, held as part of the “Future Forward: Unlocking Sustainable Local Opportunities” project advocacy efforts, in collaboration with the Jordan NGOS Forum (JONAF) and JBA, emphasizes the importance of positioning the private sector as a champion for livelihoods and sustainable development in Jordan. Integrating the award under the Future Forward project amplifies the project’s efforts to foster a more inclusive approach to advocacy, ensuring that local voices and experiences shape the discourse on livelihoods Each year, a theme is selected based on the Jordanian national priorities. The theme for the 2025 award is “Future Forward: Celebrating Champions of Localized and Sustainable Growth.” As Peter H. Denton reminds us, “A sustainable local economy is one that enables the local community to be sustainable in all of its aspects in the long run. If the local economy is not sustainable, its future has been traded away — literally — to people at a distance, for the proverbial bowl of stew.” In Jordan, this means strengthening local opportunities that empower both host communities and refugees to build resilience and shared prosperity. The Future Forward Business Ethics Award 2025 celebrates businesses that champion sustainability and localization — proving that inclusive hiring, ethical supply chains, and decent work are pathways to a stronger Jordanian economy and a more sustainable future for all.
ARDD and JBA Honor Winners of the 2025 Ethics in Business Award
At a time when regional and global challenges continue to intensify, and the region faces one of its most complex humanitarian and economic moments, the importance of strengthening self-reliance and building a resilient local economy has become a strategic imperative. In response, Jordan continues to move forward with a forward-looking vision grounded in cross-sector partnerships, enhanced adaptability, and collective efforts to confront emerging challenges. Within this context, and in affirmation of the central role of the private sector in advancing sustainable economic development, decent work, inclusive employment, and ethical supply chains, the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) and the Jordanian Businessmen Association (JBA) organized the 2025 Ethics in Business Award ceremony. The event celebrated leading companies that have demonstrated that embedding ethical values within business practices and strengthening local economic opportunities are fundamental pillars for building a stronger, more inclusive, and sustainable Jordanian economy. The awards ceremony was held on Sunday, 14 December 2025, under the theme “Future Forward: Celebrating Champions of Sustainable Local Development,” reflecting the spirit of Jordan’s Economic Modernization Vision and the national direction toward an economy based on partnership, private sector empowerment, innovation, entrepreneurship, and the creation of quality employment opportunities, particularly for youth. The ceremony coincided with International Human Rights Day, observed annually on 10 December, reinforcing the principle that ethical business leadership and respect for human rights, through decent work, justice, and dignity, are integral to sustainable local development. The 2025 Ethics in Business Awards were presented to Al-Astrolab Restaurants and Tourism Investments Company, represented by its Chairman, Eng. Muath Al-Faouri; The Specialty Hospital, represented by Dr. Fawzi Al-Hamouri; Mohammad Youssef Al-Shbataat & Partners Contracting Company (LLC), represented by Chairman Eng. Omar Al-Shbataat; Weted Investment Group, represented by Chief Executive Officer Muhannad Al-Mansour; Abu ‘Auda Brothers Company, represented by General Manager Dr. Anas Abu ‘Auda; and Mohammad Abu Hultem Investment Group, represented by Dr. Eyad Abu Hultem. The awarded companies were recognized for their leadership in integrating ethical standards into their operations, fostering inclusive employment, and contributing meaningfully to local economic resilience. In his remarks, JBA President Ayman Al-Alawneh emphasized the importance of the partnership with ARDD in reinforcing the private sector’s role in local economic development and enhancing the national economy’s competitiveness and resilience. He noted that the association brings together business leaders across 14 economic sectors that collectively form a core pillar of Jordan’s economy, highlighting JBA’s particular focus on supporting small and medium enterprises as the backbone of economic growth through innovation, expansion, market access, and job creation. ARDD Executive Director Samar Muhareb underscored that collaboration with the private sector remains a key driver of economic and social development, explaining that the Ethics in Business Awards are granted annually in line with national priorities and levels of ethical commitment within the business sector. She stressed that the awards reflect the winning companies’ dedication to equitable economic growth aligned with the Economic Modernization Vision, while advancing economic justice and equal opportunity. Rola Abu Rab, Partnerships Director at the European Regional Development and Protection Programme, highlighted the importance of building a more inclusive and just economy by expanding access to economic participation and integrating diverse groups into the labor market, thereby supporting sustainable development, social stability, and community resilience. Economic expert Dr. Adli Qandah emphasized that fostering entrepreneurship and building partnerships based on shared values and realistic goals is essential for efficient economic growth, job creation, productivity gains, and increased investment in Jordan. The ceremony also featured a panel discussion on supporting entrepreneurship in Jordan amid current economic challenges, during which speakers emphasized the importance of good governance, transparency, ethical institutional culture, and coordinated efforts between the public and private sectors, financial institutions, and large corporations to create an enabling environment for innovation and entrepreneurial growth. The 2025 Ethics in Business Awards concluded with the honoring of the winners in recognition of their leadership, ethical commitment, and social responsibility, and their tangible contributions to sustainable local development and the national economy. This edition of the awards was implemented within the framework of the ARDD-led project “Future Forward: Unlocking Sustainable Local Opportunities” , supported by the European Regional Development and Protection Programme, which aims to strengthen localized economic opportunities and empower local actors across Jordan. Launched in 2023, the Ethics in Business Award provides a national platform that highlights the private sector’s role in promoting decent work, protecting workers’ rights, expanding local opportunities, and advancing inclusive and sustainable economic growth. As part of this initiative, business leaders participating in the awards have endorsed the Goodwill Declaration “Towards a Common Goal: Strengthening Equitable Economic Growth in Jordan“, reaffirming their collective commitment to ethical responsibility and development-oriented business practices.
The Minister of Investment sponsors the “Ethics in Business” Award 2024
Under the patronage of the Minister of Investment, Kholoud Al-Saqqaf, the Jordanian Businessmen Association and the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) organized The Ethics in Business Award Ceremony 2024 in its second edition, Monday, May 20, 2024, during which a group of Jordanian businessmen and women were awarded for their contribution to promoting sustainable economic development and their active role in motivating young men and women to invest in entrepreneurial projects. It is noteworthy that the 2024 Ethics in Business Award in its second edition’s theme for this year was: “Strengthening the Local Market: Toward a more Competitive, Shock-Resilient, and Sustainable Jordanian Economy”
The Ethics in Business Award in Jordan 2024
Background Document
The Ethics in Business Award The Ethics in Business Award is a civil society-led initiative in partnership between the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD) and the Jordanian Businessmen Association. It aims to recognize the efforts of small, medium, and large companies in Jordan to achieve excellence concerning principles of sustainable entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility. According to S. Schaltegger, sustainable entrepreneurship is “the realization of sustainability innovations aimed at the mass market and providing benefit to the larger part of society.” [1] In the context of strengthening the local market and promoting a more competitive, resilient, and sustainable Jordanian economy, innovation involves refining products or services to adapt them to market needs, reducing costs and perceived risks, and improving features to attract new investments. It also includes the introduction of features tailored to target markets that contribute to the national economic growth. Each year a theme is selected based on the Jordanian national priorities, the theme for the 2024, award is “Strengthening the local market: Towards a more competitive, Shock-resilient and Sustainable Jordanian Economy”. For more information about last year´s award follow the link The award process shall consist of three phases: 1- Information gathering and analysis: participating companies will voluntarily fill out a questionnaire as per the following link and the information will be analyzed by the ARDD team. 2- Decision by the Award Committee: ARDD will provide an analytical report to the members of the award committee who will gather and decide which companies will be awarded. The award criteria shall be aligned with the principles of corporate social responsibility and sustainable entrepreneurship and shall investigate three dimensions: Governance and Management: fundamental questions in this dimension are: Do companies have mechanisms at the governance level to support the adoption and implementation of corporate values aligned with recognized principles of sustainable entrepreneurship/corporate social responsibility? How relevant are these principles in their decision-making? Policies in place: looking at how companies meet fundamental responsibilities in the areas of labor, environment, and anti-corruption while promoting a sustainable marketplace and community. The alignment of company core values to principles of sustainable entrepreneurship. 3- The Award Ceremony: it will take place yearly, and winners will be announced by the Jordan Business Association (JBA). In agreement with the JBA, each year a specific theme for the Ethics in Business Award will be selected. The Questionnaire Each year the committee will decide on a theme according to national priorities B) Objectives of the questionnaire Instrument for selecting the yearly Ethics in Business Award. Awareness-raising instrument concerning the participating companies’ ethical and socially responsible practices. Surveying the interest of companies to formulate a Jordanian Code of Business Ethics and/or participate in international guidelines Recording and tracking the progress of companies in the field of sustainable entrepreneurship to elaborate an index. C) Questionnaire components and criteria are based on the following frameworks EU Commission awareness-raising questionnaire Unlike the next tools, this questionnaire does not aim to assess the level of corporate sustainability of participating companies. Still, it identifies policy gaps to be addressed for improving their business models in terms of profitability, sensibility, reputation, and performance. This questionnaire consists of 26 questions divided into 5 sections: 1) Workplace policies, 2) Environmental policies, 3) Market place policies, 4) Community policies, and 5) Company Values. United Nations Global Compact Implementation Survey The UN Global Compact is a UN-led voluntary initiative to promote worldwide corporate sustainability by supporting companies to do business responsibly by aligning their strategies and operations with key principles on human rights, labor, environment, and anti-corruption. Furthermore, it takes and coordinates strategic actions to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Consequently, the UN Global Compact Implementation Survey intends to assess the level of accomplishment of the abovementioned goals by the participatory companies. Its survey has 79 anonymous questions divided into 8 sections: Section I: Management and Governance (11). Section II: Implementing the 10 principles along 4 thematic areas: 1) Human Rights (17), 2) Labor (5), 3) Environment (13) and 4) Anti-Corruption (5). Section III: Contribution to SDGs and Impact (12). Section IV: Local networks (1). Section V: Sustainability Reporting (1). Section VI: Assessment and Progress (6). Section VII: Basic company information (8). UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) for Signatories of the Private Sector Commitment for the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism In 2011, the UNWTO designed a Private Sector Commitment to the Global Code of Ethics for Tourism for upholding, promoting, and implementing the values of responsible and sustainable tourism development. So, similarly to the previous one, this survey aims to help UNWTO record progress on implementing the Code of Ethics signed by private companies working in the tourist sector. Moreover, it intends to promote ethical and socially responsible practices among the signatories. The questionnaire is structured as follows: Basic company information. Code of Ethics: Adhesion, implementation, and dissemination. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policies: Corporate governance and business ethics, employment quality, social equity and human rights, community well-being, and environmental sustainability. Supporting material about CSR policies by each signatory company. Please follow the link below to fill up the questionnaire: https://ee-eu.kobotoolbox.org/x/AqsywBGt [1] Schaltegger, S. (2013). Sustainable Entrepreneurship. In: Idowu, S.O., Capaldi, N., Zu, L., Gupta, A.D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Corporate Social Responsibility. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28036-8_742
JBA and ARDD honor businessmen and businesswomen in the Kingdom, and Sign a Memorandum of Goodwill: “Towards a Common Goal”
The Jordanian Businessmen Association and the Arab Renaissance for Democracy and Development (ARDD), in partnership with the Business and Professional Women Club, held a ceremony to honor a group of business leaders in the Kingdom, as part of an initiative entitled: “Towards a Common Goal: Equitable Economic Growth in Jordan”, on Monday, February 6, 2023. The ceremony, which began with a moment of silence for the victims of the devastating earthquake that hit Syria and Turkey, was attended by a group of business owners and representatives of the public and private sectors and local and international civil society, honoring the leaders and investors in the Jordanian economy for their role in establishing a successful, productive, and attractive business environment for work and investment in Jordan at the local and international levels, and for their contributions to building the pillars of ethical leadership in the business sector in Jordan, which contributed to its modern economy. In turn, CEO of ARDD, Samar Muhareb, expressed her appreciation for the efforts supporting this initiative, which sheds light on the foundations of ethical leadership in the business sector and its role in building a reputation that spurs local and foreign investments in the sector, as well as promoting the values of work and giving which abide by the principles of governance, integrity, and human rights. Muhareb valued the pioneering partnership with the Jordanian Businessmen Association, highlighting their leadership role through institutional work in developing and embracing this initiative to become an annual tradition that exhibits the efforts of the early Jordanian entrepreneurs, who believed in an attractive work environment for all segments of society and paved the way for it, and who, despite the challenges facing the private sector, continue to stand by their country to maintain its security and stability in this troubled region. For his part, Eng. Abdul Raheem Al-Buqai, Secretary General of the Businessmen Association, stressed the importance of the continued efforts to achieve a balance between the various groups of society, avoiding the benefit of one party at the expense of the other, and finding a balanced equation that satisfies all parties, which requires continuous cooperation between the various civil society institutions and the business community. He also praised the efforts of the Jordanian business community and its great commitment to the enforcement of international laws in various fields of human rights. Meanwhile, the panel discussion, moderated by the Coordinator of the Forum for Human and Economic Development (Hadaf), Dr. Raad Al-Tal, discussed the economic dimensions and problems and their repercussions on social and humanitarian conditions, as well as the importance of focusing on investment and exports to expand the opportunities for economic growth. Regarding the challenges facing the economic sector, Dr. Yousef Mansour, economist and former Minister of State for Economic Affairs, stressed that the biggest challenge facing small companies lies in the lack of access to funding, which hinders their development until they reach bankruptcy. He also underlined the importance of forming partnerships and building trust with them, emphasizing the need for the government to assume its responsibilities towards the economy. As for the role of the private sector in economic development, Michel Nazzal, Chairman of MENA Hotels and member of the Jordanian Businessmen Association, criticized the lack of implementation and follow-up of economic strategies, as we still encounter ill-advised decisions that result in poor investments and drive investors away, highlighting the importance of establishing an ethical business environment with fair competition. In respect to the reasons behind the weak participation of women in the economy, Taghreed Al-Nafisi, CEO of Tadawul Brokerage and Financial Investments, saw that the failure of women to make it in the labor market is mainly due to the prevailing societal culture and the lack of understanding of their priorities in society, pointing out that civil society institutions, the Jordanian National Commission for Women, and the labor community in general played a significant role in changing many legislations and laws that serve women and help them organize their lives. The meeting included signing a memorandum of goodwill, under the title: “Towards a Common Goal” for ethical leadership, improving the work and investment environment, promoting best practices to achieve economic and human development in the Kingdom, as well as building a new partnership between all state institutions, the business sector, and civil society ,in order to promote social dialogue and action that would contribute to achieving sustainable social and economic development in Jordan. This Memorandum was drafted to represent a set of basic principles, as well as an agenda that ensures joint action to achieve concrete goals on the ground, and that contributes to the creation of a political and social environment conducive to sustainable development and decent work, by providing recommendations for policies and regulatory frameworks in the field of human rights and business, especially with regard to economic development and labor market support. The ceremony honored each of the leading institutions participating in the initiative: “Jordan Phosphate Mines Company, Ernst & Young Jordan, Maltrans Shipping Agencies Co., Petra University, Marwan Al-Kurdi & Partners Co., Al-Salam International Company for Transport and Trade PLC, National Arab Motors, Tadawul Brokerage and Financial Investments Forum, Haider Murad & Sons Investment Group, Kawar Group, Al-Nayi for Informational and Communicational Consulting, Naouri Group, Marcelia for Information Technology – SkyTech, Adaa Sustainable Development Consultants, Studio R, Alfa Center for Studies, Durrat Al-Manal, Bilad Al-Atfal Nursery and Kindergarten, Dermaliscio Cosmetics, and Bloom Dead Sea Gift Enterprise”. For the Goodwill Memorandum