How has the Amman Stock Exchange (ASE) been affected by the economic situation?
The market has gone down since the beginning of the crisis, just like every other market. In that respect, we have been less affected than the regional or international market. It’s not completely isolated from the rest of the world. We have a huge non-Jordanian investment. Non-Jordanians own 55% of the market. Most of them are Arab investors, so whatever happens in the region will eventually affect Jordan. With respect to IT projects, the ones that we do – at least the big ones – span from nine to 16 months. These kinds of projects are not easy to put on hold or stop or postpone. IT should be an enabler of growth, not a hindrance. When a recovery or a boom happens, then there will be increased demand on our trading systems, our network, on our infrastructure and you have to be ready. It’s not a matter of choice – we cannot stop the IT projects that we have. How far into the future does your planning extend? It depends on the area we’re looking at. Usually it’s from two to five years.
