Category: Business & Finance

Amman, Some 487 societies and charitable institutions that care for orphans, the elderly and people with disabilities received annual royal support on Saturday during a ceremony to mark the occasion of His Majesty King Abdullah’s birthday.

The aid is part of a 2011 royal initiative aimed to enable these centers to continue providing quality services to target groups and enhance their societal and developmental role across the Kingdom’s governorates. Societies benefiting from the aid are selected according to Ministry of Social Development criteria.

Royal Court Chief, head of the follow-up committee for the implementation of His Majesty’s initiatives, Yousef Issawi, said during the Royal Court ceremony to hand out the aid, that supporting charities is a key part of Royal Initiatives, as these are a strategic partner in social and developmental work and carry out developmental and service programs that back up government efforts to advance community development and voluntary work.

Pursuing this initiative underlines efforts to translate the royal visions into reality and embodies the King’s directives to secure a decent life for target groups and provide them with a healthy and safe environment and quality services, said Issawi.

For her part, Minister of Social Development Wafaa Bani Mustafa said improving the quality of life of citizens and raising the level of services are a key government priority, which is based on the royal vision to accelerate development and ensure a fair distribution of its dividends across all regions of the Kingdom.

The Social Development Ministry, she explained, selects beneficiary societies according to transparent and fair criteria to help groups that are at the center of His Majesty’s attention, including those with disabilities, orphans and the elderly.

Heads and representatives of beneficiary institutions expressed their appreciation to the King for “this generous” royal initiative, which reflects his keen interest and concern to empower “this segment” and enable charities to carry out their societal and developmental role.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, The recent rainfall raised precipitation to 55 percent of Jordan’s long-term annual average of 8.1 billion cubic meters, accounting for 69% of 2022 rainfall volume, Ministry of Water announced.

In a statement on Saturday, the ministry said about 1.6 million cubic meters (mcm) were channeled into Jordan’s dams during the past 24 hours, raising their total storage to 88.5 mcm, or 31.5% of their total capacity, which amount to 280,760 mcm.

King Talal Dam received 831,000 cubic meters (cm), raising its storage to 29.4 mcm at 44% and Wihdeh Dam 410, 000 cubic meters, increasing its storage to 8.4%, the ministry said.

Meanwhile, Wadi Shuaib Dam got 139, 000 cubic meters, raising its storage to 90.6% and 112, 000 cubic meters were channeled into Waleh Dam in Madaba, incresasing its storage to 34%, the ministry added.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, Ukraine Saturday announced the return of 116 prisoners to their homes after completing another round of prisoner-of-war exchanges with Russia.

According to the Ukrainian News Agency (Ukrinform), the director of the President’s Office, Andriy Yermak, said on Telegram that among the returned prisoners were two officers and 114 soldiers and sergeants, noting that the bodies of some volunteers from outside Ukraine were also repatriated.

The Russian Ministry of Defence announced that a group of Russian military personnel returned to Russia in a prisoner exchange deal, including members of a “sensitive category,” according to Russia Today news station.

Source: Jordan News Agency

London, The Bank of England Thursday raised interest rates again as part of its continued efforts to stem inflation.

The Bank announced that it would raise the interest rate again by 0.5 per cent to 4 per cent.

The interest rate rise would be the tenth time the British Central Bank has raised the interest rate since the end of 2021.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, The current statutory minimum wage of JD260 (about $366) will remain unchanged for 2023 and 2024, according to a decision announced Thursday by a public-private labor committee.

A review of the minimum wage will be conducted in 2025, and adjustments will be made to account for inflation between 2022 and 2024, the Trilateral Labor Affairs Committee announced.

The committee is made up of the government (represented by the Ministry of Labor), employers (represented by the Jordan Chambers of Commerce and Industry), and employees (represented by professional unions).

The committee reaffirmed its commitment to striking a balance between, on the one hand, enhancing the quality of life for workers and, on the other, maintaining business viability across various sectors in light of fierce competition in regional and global markets.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, The recent rainfall raised precipitation to 52.7 percent of Jordan’s long-term annual average of 8.1 billion cubic meters, channeling some 4 million cubic meters (mcm) into dams in the last 24 hours.

The Ministry of Water said in a statement on Thursday that rainfall mostly poured into northern dams, raising King Talal Dam’s storage to 85mcm, or 30.29 percent, of its total capacity of 280.7mcm. The highest precipitation of 51 millimeters (mm) was recorded in Irbid during the last 24 hours, added the statement.

Furthermore, northern dams received about 4mcm, distributed as: King Talal Dam 2.8mcm, Al-Wahda Dam 409,000 cubic meters, Wadi Arab Dam 394,000 cubic meters, Zaqlab 63,000 cubic meters, Kufranja Dam 44,000 cubic meters, Wadi Shuaib Dam 138,000 cubic meters, Al-Kafrein 45,000 cubic meters, and Zarqa Ma’in 14,000 cubic meters. As for southern dams, only 8,500 cubic meters entered Mujib Dam and Al-Karak Dam.

Amman saw the highest precipitation of 26.8mm. Moreover, Madaba witnessed 9.4mm, Zarqa 6.7mm, Jerash 21.3mm, Mafraq 6.2mm, Irbid 21.5mm, Ramtha 17.5mm, Ajloun 26.4mm, Karak 2.4mm, Tafileh 0.4mm, Maan 0.6, and Aqaba 0.1mm.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, The Ministry of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship on Thursday signed a partnership agreement with Migrate, a leading business knowledge and networking company, to establish the first technology center in Amman.

The agreement was signed by Ahmed Hanandeh, Minister of Digital Economy and Entrepreneurship, and Migrate Chairman, Nader Nehme.

The center aims, according to a ministry statement, to provide integrated solutions and incentives to enhance youth opportunities to obtain digitally enabled job opportunities by working with operators from the private sector, self-employment, or starting their own entrepreneurial projects.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Hanandeh stressed the importance of spreading entrepreneurship culture among Jordanian youth and the local community, and enhancing their life skills, intellectual growth, and innovation capabilities through these technical centers.

This effort would provide spaces to launch creative projects and reduce obstacles for entrepreneurs to start establishing their businesses and develop them, the minister added.

For her part, the Deputy British Ambassador said lauded outcomes of UK’s funding for Youth, Technology, & Jobs Project, as her country supports job opportunities in Jordan.

The first technical center delivers opportunities and skills to the community to create job opportunities in Jordan, which provides a place for skills development programs and joint work and communication for trainers, entrepreneurs and self-employed owners, the diplomat added.

Meanwhile, Nehme said the project will provide multiple opportunities for young people and businesswomen to develop and expand their businesses, exchange knowledge and benefit from the center’s services, primarily joint work and training programs seeking to develop their skills.

Also, the agreement aims to establish the first technical center in Amman, which will be designed, operated and run by Migrate within the plan of Ministry of Digital Economy’s Youth, Technology, & Jobs Project to launch technical centers in Amman’s underprivileged regions and governorates, the statement said.

The center will serve youth and women entrepreneurs and provide common spaces for freelancers and an incubator for startups, the statement noted.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Irbid, The total value of the certificates of origin issued by the Irbid Chamber of Industry (ICI) for January 2023 stood at $80 million, compared to the $101 million reported during the same month in 2022, signaling a 21.5 percent decline.

The governorate’s top exports garments and leather were less in demand as a result of the Russo-Ukrainian war, which was the primary factor in the decline., said Hani Abu Hassan, the ICI’s Chairman in a statement on Thursday.

Over the last month, exports of the garment and leather industry sector stood at $70 million, dropping by $20 million compared with the figure reported in January 2022.

The foodstuffs products sector came in second with $4.8 million in exports, followed by the medical industries and supplies sector with $2 million and the chemical, cosmetics, packaging, paper, plastic, construction and mining sectors collectively had $3.2 million worth of exports.

Breaking down the figures, Abu Hassan said that the al-Hassan Industrial Estate’s exports ranked first, with a total of $73.3 million in exports, followed by Cyber City’s with $4.4 million, while the remaining exports came from other industrial zones in the northern governorate.

The United States market was the biggest importer, accounting for $65 million, while exports to Arab countries were estimated at $10 million, and the remaining shipments went to the Canadian, European and Southeast Asian countries’ markets among others.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, Information and Communication Technology Association (Intaj) launched a market study unit aimed to enabling its members, beneficiaries and stakeholders to obtain data on macro and micro economic levels and help companies achieve business growth and open new markets for their products.

Intaj, in a statement to “Petra” on Thursday, said the new unit was officially launched on the sidelines of the Middle East and North Africa Communications and Information Technology Forum ‘MENA ICT Forum 2022’ at end of last November.

The launch was driven by the need to provide know-how that supports expansion of Jordanian companies’ business in the region’s markets and their entry to regional and world markets, the statement said, adding that companies could also tap opportunities and requirements of target markets at the ICT level.

According to the statement, the unit’s data will be published periodically at https://intaj.net, and features 5 sections to provide news on information and communication technology (ICT) sector, startups in the MENA region and related tenders at the regional level.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman, Head of the Amman Chamber of Commerce (ACC), Khalil Haj Tawfiq, called on building integrated economic unity with Iraq to become trade and investment partners.

Speaking during a meeting on Thursday with Iraqi Business Council (IBC) in Amman, Haj Tawfiq noted Jordan’s trade and service sector is “keen” to open joint channels of communication with the Iraqi private sector.

Haj Tawfiq said today’s meeting comes as a Jordanian economic delegation is scheduled to visit Baghdad next week and launch of Jordanian-Iraqi Business Forum, to enhance joint trade and investment partnerships.

He noted the “large” delegation reflects Jordan’s “remarkable” interest in building “solid” economic relations with Iraq, stressing that its visit is “important” to follow up efforts made by His Majesty King Abdullah II and Iraqi leadership at various levels.

“We look forward to building a new era of economic relations between the two countries in a way that achieves common interests,” said the chamber’s chairman.

Also, he expressed hope that the Jordanian-Iraqi economic relations will witness further progress to increase trade exchanges and establish joint investments.

To provide a database on trade opportunities available in the two countries, he referred to an ACC initiative to be launched during the business forum to establish an Iraqi trade center in Amman to be temporarily located at the chamber’s headquarters, as well as a Jordanian commercial center in Baghdad, in partnership with Iraqi Business Council.

Jordan’s trade and service sector seeks to open channels of communication with various Iraqi institutions from the private sector, he said, noting IBC is a “major” partner for ACC, which is ready to follow up on issues of interest to Iraqi investors with Jordan’s various concerned authorities.

Haj Tawfiq said Jordan’s private sector is “keen” to make 2023 the year of Jordanian-Iraqi economic cooperation, especially since the Kingdom has made multiple reform steps in the economic field, foremost is Economic Modernization Vision (EMV) and endorsement of the new investment environment law.

Source: Jordan News Agency