PM urges work to ensure Governorate Development Fund’s success

AMMAN — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Tuesday stressed the need to expedite the Governorate Development Fund’s (GDF) work and the need for it to market itself and complete projects that will provide jobs and reduce poverty and unemployment. 

Chairing part of the Economic Development Ministerial Committee’s meeting to discuss the progress of the fund’s operations, the premier called for joining efforts and ensure the GDF’s success, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The fund was established upon His Majesty King Abdullah’s directives to achieve real development in the Kingdom’s governorates and nearby areas.

Serving as a financing tool, the fund’s goal is to contribute to financing small- and medium-sized projects that can bring about governorate development, Ensour told committee members, stressing the government’s support for the fund.

At the meeting, Hana Uraidi, CEO of the Jordan Enterprise Development Corporation (JEDCO) which supervises the GDF, briefed the attendees on the fund’s role in supporting productive pilot projects that can provide sustainable job opportunities. 

Since July 2012, the GDF has approved financing for 92 projects with a total investment of JD124 million, of which the fund contributed JD58 million, she said. 

These projects are expected to provide 2,800 job opportunities, Uraidi added.

Ministers who are part of the committee stressed the need for further contact between the fund and citizens to acquaint them with available financing mechanisms. 

They also called for focusing on governorates in remote areas with high poverty and unemployment rates. 

Also on Tuesday, the public-private partnership council held its second meeting at the Cabinet. 

At the meeting, Ensour, who heads the council, stressed the need to complete the measures required to activate the partnership programme between the two sectors.

Discussions covered the by-law that will govern public-private partnership, expected to be published in the Official Gazette after its endorsement by a Royal Decree. 

The partnership programme seeks to promote joint public-private investment ventures and arrive at financing solutions for feasible public sector projects.