Day: February 5, 2023

Amman, Minister of Public Works and Housing and Minister of Transport, Maher Abul Samen, on Sunday met with representatives of the World Bank, key projects and plans related to the development of the road sector in the Kingdom and the possibility of implementing a set of partnership projects with the private sector.

Abul Saman said that the World Bank is an important strategic partner for Jordan, stressing that work is underway with the World Bank, in cooperation with the Ministry of Transport, to develop and raise the efficiency of the road network in the Kingdom, in addition to developing transport and traffic safety strategies on the roads and contributing to the implementation of partnership projects in cooperation with the private sector.

Maintenance and road evaluation works are carried out continuously which contribute to maintaining the sustainability of the road network in the Kingdom, a ministry statement cited Abul Saman as saying.

He added that maintenance costs increase annually if they are not monitored and evaluated continuously, which is reflected in the level of service on these roads.

Abu Al Saman highlighted key procedures and projects that the ministry intends to work on and others that are under implementation in cooperation with the World Bank, indicating that stakeholders have been instructed to expedite procedures for implementing projects according to the rules and to remove any obstacles they face.

He called for full participation with all state institutions, which will contribute to raising the levels of service on the roads and linking the strategies of these institutions with the objectives of these projects.

These projects include the Road Assets Management System, which aims to provide a sustainable system for maintaining the road network and monitoring the need for these roads for maintenance, which helps the concerned authorities in developing the necessary plans related to the maintenance, construction and preservation of roads.

He pointed out that a number of training workshops will be held in the ministry, including all concerned parties, in addition to contractors and consultants to receive feedback regarding many projects that the ministry is working on.

For their part, representatives of the World Bank said that the bank is working on developing and preparing the necessary plans to develop the transport network in the Kingdom, with the aim of raising the efficiency of transport and roads, and is also working to provide the required support to the Ministry to implement many projects in the country in order to improve and raise the efficiency of roads in Jordan.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Cairo, Jordan participated in the 111th session of the Economic and Social Council, held Sunday at the headquarters of the Arab League in Cairo.

The Social Committee agenda includes the preparation for the 32nd session of the Arab League Council at the level of the summit, preparation for the fifth session of the Arab Economic and Social Development Summit, and the successful organization of the State of Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Social Affairs Sector at the Arab League, Ambassador, Haifa Abu Ghazaleh said.

The Council is expected to be briefed, at the level of senior officials, on the Social Committee recommendations at its meeting scheduled to be held on February 8, and then submit them to the ministerial level to take the necessary decisions in this regard, Abu Ghazaleh added.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, Finance Minister Mohammad Al-Ississ met Sunday in Doha with his Qatari counterpart, Ali bin Ahmed Al Kuwari.

The two ministers discussed the bilateral financial and economic relations between the two countries and ways to develop and enhance them.

The meeting was attended by Jordan Ambassador to Qatar, Zaid Mufleh Al-Louzi.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, General Command of Jordan Armed Forces (JAF)- Arab Army on Sunday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Zabeel Management & Marketing Consultancy to invest in Naour Military Hospital.

The MoU was signed by JAF’s director for Planning, Organization and Defense Resources, Brig. Gen. Yousef Khatib and and Fouad Bastaki, the company’s representative.

The memo aims to attract a company investor to complete construction of Naour Military Hospital, which would specialize in medical tourism to enhance level of Jordan’s medical and treatment services, according to a JAF statement.

Once completed, the hospital will provide “distinguished” healthcare services and create multiple job opportunities in various medical specialties and supportive professions.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, Director of Public Security Directorate (PSD), Maj. Gen. Obaidullah Maaitah, on Sunday discussed with Dutch Ambassador to Jordan, Harry Verweij, ways to enhance joint cooperation in all fields to serve the two countries’ police and security work system.

Speaking at the meeting, Maaitah noted PSD continously seeks to enhance its joint cooperation with security counterparts in Arab and friendly countries.

He also pointed to the importance of exchanging expertise between Jordan and Netherlands to develop police performance and raise PSD’s capacity in combating new crimes.

In addition, he lauded cooperation level between PSD and the Dutch embassy aimed to developing police performance and enabling relations between the two countries’ security apparatuses.

He expressed hope talks would achieve further joint cooperation, exchange expertise and hold mutual training courses in various security and police fields.

For his part, Verweij said Jordan has achieved an “advanced” position by operating a “modern” security umbrella, which is noticeable in the nature and level of PSD’s police and humanitarian services provided to citizens and Jordan’s guests.

The diplomat stressed quest to achieve further cooperation and exchange expertise between the two countries’ security apparatuses.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, The recent rainfall raised the overall volume of precipitation to 56.1 percent of Jordan’s long-term annual average of 8.1 billion cubic meters, channeling some 1.5 million cubic meters (mcm) into dams in the last 24 hours, according to official figures.

The Ministry of Water and Irrigation on Sunday said that Salt saw the highest downpour of 19.8 millimeters (mm). Furthermore, Amman witnessed 6.8mm of rain, as well as 7.7mm in Balqa, 4.4mm in Madaba, 1.7mm in Zarqa, 4.1mm in Jerash, 1.7mm in Mafraq, 8.1mm in Irbid, 9.4mm in Ajloun, and 0.8mm in Karak.

The total storage in the Kingdom’s dams was raised to 89.5mcm or 31.88 percent of their full capacity of 280.759mcm, according to the ministry’s figures, which showed that the rainfall poured into northern and central dams only.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, Patent applications submitted to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Supply increased by 6% during 2022, compared to 2021, according to official figures.

In a statement, the ministry’s head of the Industrial Property Protection Directorate, Raya Ensour, said a total of 357 patent applications were recorded in 2022, compared with 338 in 2021.

Meanwhile, Ensour noted 18 applicants submitted files for global institutions, in accordance with the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), reflecting a “remarkable” growth in 2022, and 54 patents were registered in the same year.

Ensour noted the directorate’s statistical 2022 data showed a “significant” increase in application submission for trademark registration, standing at 7,939, applications, compared to 7,794 in 2021.

In addition, the directorate registered 5,084 new trademarks, compared to 5, 551 in 2021, Ensour announced, adding that it received 15,542 e-transactions last year, compared to 11,908 paper-based transactions.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, Director of the Industrial Support and Development Fund at the Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Supply, Rami Hammad, announced that JD30 million has been earmarked per year as a budget for the fund to support all manufacturing industrial sectors across the Kingdom.

During a training workshop at the Amman Chamber of Industry on Sunday, Hammad said that the fund constitutes 4 support programs, noting that the ministry launched an e-platform at the end of last November to serve those wishing to benefit from the fund.

The deadline for applying to the fund’s programs is the 28th of this month, he indicated, pointing out that the provided support will be non-refundable grants.

Source: Jordan News Agency