Author: Web Desk

Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Nasser Shraideh, briefed a number of representatives of international financial institutions on the latest developments related to National Water Carrier (Aqaba–Amman Water Desalination and Conveyance Project (AAWDC).

According to a ministry’s statement on Thursday, Shraideh highlighted the importance that the Jordanian government attaches to this project, which is considered a top priority on the government’s work agenda.

During a meeting held on the sidelines of his participation in the annual meetings of World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), he said the project is a pillar of national water security in the framework of achieving comprehensive economic development, calling on institutions and development partners to provide more support from soft financing for this strategic project.

The meeting was attended by representatives of various international financial institutions from International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), the International Finance Corporation (IFC), Proparco-French Development Finance Institution, German Reconstruction Bank (KfW), European Investment Bank (EIB), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), and Islamic Development Bank (IsDB), the OPEC Fund for International Development, World Bank Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), and the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC).

In addition, Shraideh met with the senior MIGA managers and agreed to provide guarantees for the project.

The project, whose implementation will start at the end of 2023, aims to increase water supply by providing an additional 300 million cubic meters of water annually after desalination and transferring quantities from Aqaba to Amman and the rest of the Kingdom’s governorates.

The project is the largest project that the government has included in its economic priorities program, and it is expected to enter the water supply in 2027.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi, on Thursday, discussed with U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary for Iran, Iraq, and Public Diplomacy Jennifer Gavito, means of enhancing the strategic partnership between Amman and Washington.

The two sides reviewed the latest developments in the Middle East region and the exerted efforts to address regional crises, in addition to the joint and permanent cooperation between the two friendly countries to achieve security and stability in the region.

Source: Jordan News Agency

His Majesty King Abdullah, accompanied by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, on Thursday visited Eil Comprehensive Secondary School for Boys.

King Abdullah toured the facilities at the school, the only vocational school in the Southern Badia, serving also Petra, Shobak, and parts of Maan Governorate.

His Majesty was briefed on the school, in which 112 students are enrolled in the vocational streams and 56 in the science and literary streams.

The school also provides dormitories for students and teachers from remote areas.

The King stopped at the carpentry, electricity, and mechanical workshops, and was briefed by the supervising teachers on each one.

Royal Hashemite Court Chief Yousef Issawi, Director of the Office of His Majesty Jafar Hassan, and Education and Higher Education Minister Wajih Owais accompanied His Majesty.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Japan Wednesday announced it is offering a US$640,000 grant to Nippon International Cooperation for Community Development (NICCO) to improve the infrastructure of the Osama Bin Zaid Juvenile Centre in Russaifa, Zarqa.

The Japanese ambassador in Amman, Kaoru Shimazaki, and the representative of NICCO in Jordan, Akitagaki Kenta, signed the fund agreement in the presence of the director of the Centre Saqr Maaytah.

The Japanese embassy said in a statement that the project is the third phase of a 3-year project, as the Japanese government provided a grant of US$321,448 for the first phase and US$492,679 for the second.

The third phase will focus on establishing a sustainable framework to raise the awareness of the local communities and centre staff about juveniles and their needs, it added.

The Centre provides education and rehabilitation services for male children between 16 and 18 years old in Russaifa, the statement noted.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Cabinet Wednesday approved a range of incentives for investment in the Tafilah Industrial City.

The Cabinet’s decision to roll out stimulus investment packages come to implement the outcomes of Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh’s visit to Tafilah in September, during which it was agreed to grant incentives to those wishing to invest in the industrial city in Tafileh.

The packages include subsidising electric energy prices for small- and medium-sized businesses in the Tafilah Industrial City and that the Tafilah Industrial City would benefit from the programmes of the “productive branches” that offer financial support for benefiting companies.

The decision also included subsidising the cost of container handling at the container port for goods exported through the port of Aqaba, whereby 50 per cent of the handling cost would be covered.

The Cabinet approved a draft amendment to the hospital law for 2022 that would activate the partnership between the public and private sectors, promote private hospitals within and abroad and reduce hospital bills.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, Nasser Shraideh, and Minister of Finance, Mohammad Al-Ississ, stressed the importance of the US support to the Kingdom, within the recently signed memorandum of understanding, and its significance in supporting Jordan’s development and reform efforts in various tracks.

During their participation in the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank in Washington, the two ministers lauded the role of US aid in supporting the implementation of priority development programs and projects, in light of the various challenges facing the Kingdom.

Shraideh and Al-Ississ met in Washington, with Assistant Deputy Secretary of State Chris Buckmer, in the presence of

Jordan’s Ambassador to the United States, Dina Kawar, where they briefed him on the various economic, administrative and political reform programs that Jordan is working on within the visions of modernization and reform that came under the directives of His Majesty King Abdullah and key achievements that were made in this regard.

Buckmer lauded the distinguished Jordan-US partnership, efforts led by His Majesty the King to enhance security and stability in the region, as well as reforms adopted by the government in various priority sectors in order to reach sustainable growth and provide jobs, stressing that the United States will continue support to Jordan to enhance its ability to deal with economic challenges and the impacts of external crises.

Source: Jordan News Agency

EduTrac international exhibition, held recently in Muscat, has concluded on Wednesday, as Jordan participated through a special pavilion prepared by the Jordan Tourism Board (JTB) in cooperation with the International Student Affairs Unit at the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research.

Eight universities, seven of which are public, and one is private, represented Jordan in the exhibition specialized in the field of educational tourism.

Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Wajih Owais, stressed the importance of public and private Jordanian universities’s participation in such exhibitions, along with the need of universities’ marketing themselves and their specializations and flagship programs they offer that keep pace with modern requirements and take into account the needs of regional and global labor markets.

He lauded the Jordanian higher education sector reputation, which contributed to the graduation of thousands of international students who proved their excellence when they joined the labor market, calling for building on these achievements to attract more international students to study in public and private Jordanian higher education institutions.

He said that the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, in cooperation with the JTB, had recently completed a draft strategic plan to attract foreign students for the years (2023-2027), which included seting up marketing exhibitions for public and private Jordanian universities in a number of countries, starting from 2023, by the ministry and the JTB.

JTB Director General Abdul Razzaq Arabiyat said this participation aims at highlighting Jordan, its excellence and success in the field of educational tourism to attract more students into studying in the Kingdom, in addition to attracting more students to Jordan within the promotion and marketing policy that the JTB is working on.

He added that this effort comes in harmony with the outcomes of the recent visit of His Majesty King Abdullah and HRH Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah to the Sultanate of Oman, which opened promising prospects for cooperation in many fields between the two countries.

Arabiyat explained that there are more than 3,000 male and female students from Oman who study in tJordan and the JTB, in cooperation and coordination with the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, is looking forward to increasing this number in the coming years.

The participated universities are: the University of Jordan, the Yarmouk University, Mutah University, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Al al-Bayt University, Al-Balqa Applied University, German Jordanian University, and Princess Sumaya University for Technology.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Jordan Engineers Association (JEA) on Wednesday announced the start of the Fazaat Ahel (Families Support) campaign to renovate houses of needy families in all governorates of the Kingdom, for the sixth year, as the campaign will run until the end of this year.

“The national campaign targeted by the JEA for more than a year has completed the renovation of 80 houses in various governorates, at a cost of about JD240,000,” the JEA President, Ahmad Al-Zoubi, said in a press conference to launch the campaign.

He noted that 20 to 25 houses are being renovated annually.

He pointed out that the campaign comes ahead of the winter season, which poses a double risk to the houses of needy families, which requires direct intervention and support of these houses.

He called on all consulting offices and companies and companies working in the construction, heating and building materials sector to contribute to the in-kind donation to complete house repairs.

The JEA Vice President, Fawzi Masad, said that the restoration operations include rebuilding, finishing and maintenance, based on restoration standards.

He pointed out that JD3,000 to JD6,000 were set for each house.

The selection of houses for renovation is carried out through the Ministry of Social Development, the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD) and JEA representatives, said Moutaz Al-Shawareb, a JEA member, Chairman of the Social Responsibility Fund Committee and Head of the Fazaat Ahel campaign.

Al-Shawareb added that studies are being conducted on all incoming requests to select house that in need of restoration the most, while the JEA funds the campaign through a donation campaign that is held on an open day and throughout the year as well.

Source: Jordan News Agency