Abuelsamen, AFESD head talk development cooperation

Amman: Minister of Public Works and Housing, Maher Abuelsamen, and Chairman of the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development (AFESD), Badr Al-Saad, on Wednesday discussed cooperation in the contracting and construction sector during the next stage. During his meeting with Al-Saad and the accompanying delegation, Abuelsamen valued the fund's role in strengthening the "continuous" partnership and support, stressing the importance of the joint current "constructive" development cooperation. Abuelsamen reviewed the ministry's work priorities and its strategic plan, highlighting the areas for its future cooperation with the fund. Meanwhile, Al-Saad noted the AFESD seeks to develop a "strategic" framework with member states regarding their development needs and identify future sectors and projects that can be financed within a "programmatic" framework and approach based on the countries' development plans and priorities. Additionally, he said the AFESD's new strategy, which focuses on a "more realistic" vis ion of supporting the private sector to establish joint partnerships and financing development projects that provide job opportunities and benefit local communities. The fund had decided to make Jordan the first country to work with, in accordance with its new strategy, which would contribute to drumming up support for implementing priority development projects and expanding the private sector's access to financing. The fund, which is one of Jordan's development partners, contributed to financing 51 projects during the period 1975-2023, in the Kingdom's fields of health, education, social development, water and sanitation, and productive programs. Source: Jordan News Agency