Jordan News UpdatesAt least thirteen people were killed and 40 others wounded Wednesday in an attack carried out by three gunmen on the Shahgrag shrine in the city of Shiraz in southern Iran.
According to Tasnim News Agency, two “terrorists” were arrested and efforts are continuing to arrest the third suspect.
Source: Jordan News Agency
The agriculture sector contributes 5.5 percent to Jordan Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Jordan, according to Minister Khaled Hanifat.
During a meeting on Tuesday evening organized by the Amman Group for Future Dialogues, the minister spoke about the sector and highlighted key achievements. The Amman Group for Future Dialogues was formed with the goal of highlighting national issues and discussing them with experts and specialists in order to come up with solutions and address challenges.
Agriculture is the foundation for achieving food security and national stability, according to Hanifat, who also noted that the ministry’s strategy and plans aim to create employment opportunities.
He cited a sustainable national plan for the sector developed with the participation of stakeholders, which includes quarterly, half-year, and annual performance indicators to provide an appropriate environment for the sector to develop, support farmers, improve product quality, and profit.
Elaborating on the strategy, Hanifat stated that the ministry intends to provide a “agricultural guide” for each agricultural holding as well as 350 agricultural engineers and veterinarians who will be equipped with the most advanced technology and will work alongside farmers to implement prevention and treatment measures, review side effects and environmental effects, and monitor product quality.
Meanwhile, the Agricultural Credit Corporation’s portfolio has grown from JD42 million to JD115 million in the last five years, with about JD105 million in loans made to farmers in the last four years, JD50 million of which were soft loans, he added.
Concerning the empowerment of women and youth in the sector, the minister said that the portfolio provided JD20 million in loans to housewives and JD10 million for young people to carry out productive projects, resulting in the creation of approximately 12,000 jobs.
Source: Jordan News Agency
The Arab League Wednesday called on the United Nations to “assume its responsibilities” and take urgent action with the concerned international parties to put Security Council resolutions related to providing an international protection framework for the Palestinians into effect.
The league’s Assistant Secretary-General for Palestine and occupied Arab territories Affairs, Saeed Abu Ali, condemned the “barbaric” Israeli aggression that resulted in the death of six Palestinian citizens and many.
In a statement on the sidelines of the preparatory meetings for the 31st Arab Summit in Algeria, Abu Ali held the occupation authorities “fully responsible for the repercussions and consequences of this crime,” which comes in the context of the ongoing and escalating Israeli aggression against the Palestinians.
Source: Jordan News Agency
Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and a delegation of the EU Mashreq/Maghreb Working Party Wednesday held a meeting in Amman for talks on strategic partnership and ways to increase cooperation.
Safadi noted the outcomes of the fourteenth meeting of the Jordan-European Partnership Council, held in Jordan last June and the signing of the partnership priorities document for the next five years between Jordan and the EU, which reflects the EU’s keenness to support the Kingdom in countering the challenges arising from regional crises.
The EU Mashreq/Maghreb Working Party is a geographical working group concerned with the affairs of the countries of the Levant and the Maghreb. It works on foreign policy relations of the EU with these countries and on the “Union for the Mediterranean,” which Jordan chairs in partnership with the EU.
Source: Jordan News Agency
Jordanian-Qatari trade exchange amounted to 500 million Qatari riyals (USD137.3 million) in the first nine months of 2022, edging up by 4.8 percent from 476 million riyals (USD130.7 million) in the same period of 2021, according to official Qatari figures.
Qatar’s Planning and Statistics Authority (PSA) released data on Wednesday predicting that trade exchange will maintain an upward trend throughout the remainder of 2022 and also 2023, with Qatari and Jordanian private sectors making a significant contribution.
Jordan’s main exports to Qatar are vegetables, fruits, meat, dates, cheeses, milk, meat, poultry, grains, sweets, cakes, rice, juices, nuts, oils, ghee, pickles, herbs, honey, coffee, and eggs.
On the other hand, Qatari exports to Jordan include automobile lubricants, sulfonic acid, luterin, aluminum briquettes, paraffin, polyethylene, iron rods, chemical fertilizers, plastic bags, organic fertilizers, medical solutions, in addition to some commodities and food products.
In the past ten years, trade between the two countries exceeded 11.5 billion riyals (USD3.17 billion), according to PSA figures.
Between 2012 and 2017, Qatar’s exports to Jordan totaled 5.35 billion riyals, compared to imports of 2.44 billion, leaving Qatar with a 2.91 billion riyal surplus. However, a 1 billion riyal surplus shifted in Jordan’s favor from 2018 to 2021 as 1.2 billion riyals in exports from Qatar were offset by 2.2 billion riyals in imports.
Source: Jordan News Agency
Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Nasser Shraideh, Governor of Jordan at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and EBRD First Vice President Jurgen Rigterink held a meeting in Amman on economic challenges and areas for support.
In a statement, Shraideh noted on Wednesday the importance of EBRD’s support for Jordan’s national priorities in the next stage, especially on the project of the National Water and Energy Carrier and projects that support the green economy and address climate change, in addition to the importance of supporting and empowering the private sector.
Shraideh briefed Rigterink on the performance of the national economy in terms of current and expected growth rates and economic and social challenges, including youth unemployment. He explained the impact of hosting Syrian refugees in Jordan and the economic fallout of COVID-19, in addition to the the Russian-Ukrainian crisis and its impact on food security and energy prices.
He added that continued cooperation with EBRD is important in light of the challenges that Jordan grapples with.
He said the Bank’s investment portfolio in Jordan has grown to more than €1.2 billion since 2012, as the Bank has worked to finance several projects in renewable energy, pharmaceutical industries, water and wastewater, health and solid waste and the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises.
Shraideh briefed Rigterink about the developments on the National Water Carrier Project (Aqaba-Amman for Desalination and Water Transfer), lauding EBRD on the $200 million grant announced during the pledges conference to support the National Water Carrier Project.
Source: Jordan News Agency
Amman Chamber of Commerce (ACC) President Khalil Haj Tawfiq stressed the importance of developing cooperation opportunities between Jordanian stakeholders and their counterparts from the Republic of Malta, to strengthen the two countries’ trade and investment relations.
During a meeting with Permanent Secretary of Malta’s Ministry for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade Christopher Cutajar, Tawfiq said trade exchange between the two countries is “still very modest and below ambitions,” despite the availability of great opportunities to increase them.
According to an ACC statement released Wednesday, Tawfiq underscored the importance of the Maltese trade delegation’s visits to benefit from Jordan’s strategic location and enhance economic relations between the two countries.
He said 85 percent of Jordan’s food needs are imported, urging cooperation in the industry to inform the ACC of exportable products.
For his part, Cutajar reaffirmed the “distinguished political relations” between the two countries and the need to build commercial relations with Jordan to increase trade exchange.
He pointed to the need to focus on specific economic sectors of priority at the mean time, and then expand to encompass other sectors, pointing to cooperation opportunities in Jordan’s tourism and service sectors.
A tourist visa can be acquired though the Italian embassy in Amman, he noted, adding that work is underway, in cooperation with the Identity Malta Agency, which is responsible for identity and travel arrangements, to facilitate procedures of issuing an entrance visa for Jordanians to Malta.
“We will cooperate with Jordan to provide training courses in maritime laws,” said Cutajar, pointing to training program that will be held online next April and May for law companies and bodies specialized in commercial cases.
Source: Jordan News Agency