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AMMAN — His Majesty King Abdullah and Lebanon’s army chief Gen. Joseph Oun on Monday reviewed means to enhance military and defence cooperation between Jordan and Lebanon. 

HRH Prince Feisal and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Mahmoud Freihat attended the meeting, according to a Royal Court statement. 

Also on Monday, Oun headed a Lebanese military delegation on a visit to the King Abdullah II Special Operations Training Centre (KASOTC), and was received by its Director General Col. Ahmad Keiber. 

The delegates toured KASOTC and listened to a briefing on the training tasks carried out by the centre, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

The delegates commended the “advanced level” of KASOTC and its capability to execute tasks.

In 2015, Jordan donated artillery weapons and tanks to the Lebanese army, under the King’s directives.

The military assistance was part of cooperation between the two armies, a military source was quoted by Petra as saying then.

A ceremony was held in Beirut to receive the Jordanian donation, attended by a JAF delegation, the source said. 

AMMAN — Jordanian and Kenyan armed forces on Monday started a joint drill to boost their response to non-traditional security threats. The two-week drill, titled “Exercise Swift Eagle”, also aims at enhancing the operational capabilities of the Rapid Response Force, exchanging expertise and increasing preparedness of the force, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. The drill, held with the participation of ground and air forces, will be carried out on the training fields of the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army.

AMMAN — The Department of Media and Public Relations at the Public Security Directorate stated that due to maintenance work on the Dead Sea Highway near Mujib, the road is closed to trucks from Monday until completion of construction, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The department urges truck drivers to comply with the safety instructions in order to protect themselves and others from any harm. For trucks from construction companies of tourism facilities, prior permission must be obtained from the Ministry of Public Works and Housing.

AMMAN — Minister of Planning and International Cooperation Emad Fakhouri on Monday stressed the importance of a strategic partnership between Jordan and South Korea. In his remarks, on the occasion of the Korean National Day held at the South Korean embassy in Amman, the minister expressed his appreciation towards Seoul for its support to Jordan in various fields, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra. 

For his part, the Korean ambassador to Jordan, Lee Bom-yon, highlighted the growing cooperation between the two countries, since the launch of diplomatic relations 55 years ago.

AMMAN — The Jordan Chamber of Commerce (JCC) and the Algerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry have signed an agreement to establish a joint Jordanian-Algerian business council to develop economic ties between the two countries.

Through the council, the two sides will seek to boost ties among business owners and enhance cooperation to serve projects, institutions and business associations in both countries, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Under the deal, which was signed by JCC President Nael Kabariti and President of the Algerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mohammed Bin Omer, the two sides will also work on expanding communications, business, trade, scientific and technical relations. 

AMMAN — The Amman Chamber of Commerce (ACC) won the first place as the best Arab training academy during the fifth conference of the Arab Trainers Union that was recently held in Tunisia, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported on Monday.

During the conference, Tunisian Minister of Vocational Training and Employment Fawzi Bin Abdulrahman handed over the “Amman banner” as the capital of professional training for 2018 to the ACC.

During the ceremony, ACC Director General Muhannad Attar expressed the chamber’s eagerness to support training activities that serve Arab countries.

He added that the training academy affiliated with the ACC applies the “highest quality standards” in training. 

AMMAN — One month after the government’s decision to allow Syrian refugees to obtain work permits, the Zaatari Office for Employment (ZOE) is scheduled to organise its first job fair in Zaatari refugee camp on Wednesday. 

Inaugurated by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the UNHCR on August 21, the ZOE is the first ever employment office inside a Syrian refugee camp in Jordan and aims to facilitate access to formal work opportunities for residents of the camp by helping them register their work permits in exchange for one-month leave permits, an ILO statement said.

“This job fair represents a unique opportunity for both employers and Syrian job seekers to be linked directly with one another,” UNHCR External Relations Officer Marwa Hashem told The Jordan Times over the phone, adding “It will provide both sides with a better understanding of what is expected on the supply and demand sides of the Jordanian labour market.”

Over 50 local and international companies representing the industrial, agricultural, construction sectors, among others, will be represented at the job fair, which is organised by the ZOE in collaboration with UNHCR, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC) and the government’s Syrian Refugee Affairs Directorate.

“Ultimately, we aim to help Syrian refugees to live in dignity and be self-reliant. Some of these people haven’t been working for several years and this job fair will hopefully help them gain employment, gain experience that will also be useful for their future,” Hashem noted.

“We are seeking to bring over 1,000 job vacancies and training opportunities to Zaatari camp residents,” Hashem continued, citing a “win-win” situation for both employers and applicants, in line with the Jordan Compact presented at the London Conference on the Syrian crisis in 2016.

The ZOE is the first of a wider network of employment offices the ILO and the Ministry of Labour plan to set up to provide employment services for local Jordanians and Syrian refugees, according to an ILO statement.

The job fair will take place on Wednesday in the presence of EU Ambassador to Jordan Andrea Matteo Fontana, SRAD Director Jehad Matar, UNHCR’s Deputy Representative to Jordan Agostino Mulas, ILO Country Coordinator for Jordan Patrick Daru, NRC Country Director Carlo Gherardi and government representatives.

AMMAN — Germany has been and remains a strong partner for Jordan in contributing to the country’s socioeconomic development, while addressing issues facing the Kingdom in various areas including water, energy and the Syrian refugee crisis, according to German Ambassador in Amman Birgitta Siefker-Eberle.

“Germany has traditionally been one of the closest cooperation partners of Jordan… The regional turmoil of the last years and the recognition in Germany that our partner Jordan had been particularly hard hit as a host country for Syrian refugees have led to a very considerable stepping-up of German assistance to Jordan over the last years,” the ambassador said.

Germany has increased both its funding for development cooperation and humanitarian assistance since the onset of the crisis and has become the second largest bilateral donor in Jordan, the ambassador told The Jordan Times on the occasion of the Day of German Unity, marked on Tuesday.

Since 2012, the German government has provided 1.3 billion euros in development cooperation and humanitarian assistance to Jordan. 

In 2016, annual commitments reached a volume of 478 million euros, according to the ambassador, adding that Germany’s support to Jordan focuses on areas that challenge the development and the growth of the Kingdom.

“Our wide-ranging assistance in the Jordanian water sector goes back decades,” Siefker-Eberle said, adding that there are ongoing projects in the areas of water and sanitation with a total value of 933 million euros.

“Within the water sector, we focus on the development and improvement of infrastructure, for example, drinking water pipelines and wastewater treatment plants. Ever since the beginning of the Syrian refugee crisis, we have paid special attention to those municipalities in the north of the country that have taken in refugees and helped improve drinking water supply and wastewater management,” she added.

Some of the projects implemented in this regard include the construction of the Aqib-Pipeline that will ensure the distribution of water from a borehole field to host communities for 800,000 Jordanians and refugees and half of the country’s 3,500 imams and waithat (female preachers)  have been trained on water conservation, reaching out to 3,000,000 worshippers. 

German support also covers several projects on increasing energy efficiency and the use of renewable energy resources in the water sector. 

Germany is providing 59 million euros for the construction of several modern photovoltaic plants, that will create solar energy for the Zaatari refugee camp, hospitals and other community buildings in host communities, Siefker-Eberle noted.

While working with Jordan to contribute to the country’s socio-economic development, Germany has been also helping in the impact reduction of the Syrian crisis on the country.

Since 2012, Germany’s humanitarian assistance to Jordan amounts to 412.5 million euros. In 2017, assistance is expected to reach 110 million euros. 

Germany has been a strong partner of UN-agencies in Jordan and supports them in providing the basic needs of refugees. With Germany’s contribution to the UN World Food Programme in Jordan in 2016, all eligible Syrian refugees residing both in camps and in host communities could receive food assistance for eight months. 

Germany is working closely together with some Jordanian NGOs, such as Caritas Jordan and CARE International Jordan, she added.

Keen on enabling Jordanian companies to benefit from the agreement relaxing rules of origin for Jordanian exports, the ambassador said Germany and the EU were assisting Jordanian institutions in order to provide local companies with the necessary know-how to export to the EU. 

There are discussions currently with the Minister of Industry, Trade and Supply on how to create an easily accessible structure for export promotion and company level assistance, she continued.

Meanwhile, the Jordanian side needs to find a way to create a more enabling business environment and an improved investment climate in order to allow Jordanian companies to grow, export more and to attract foreign investors, the ambassador added.

“Unfortunately, one year on, the use of the flexible rules of origin by companies in Jordan is very much below expectations. So far, only two companies in Jordan — two Syrian companies in Sahab industrial zone, which also employ hundreds of Jordanian workers — export to the EU under the new regime,” she said, noting that around 10 additional firms in Jordan have qualified, but have not yet started exporting

The main challenge seems to be the small size of companies in Jordan and the lack of knowledge about the EU market.

“Jordan unfortunately does not have a system of export promotion with its own trade representatives in the EU, who know Jordanian products as well as the EU market. The EU market is highly competitive and Jordanian products are not well known. The EU has not been a traditional export market for Jordanian companies and overall Jordanian exports to the EU are very low,” she added.

Jordanian firms are encouraged to attend trade fairs in the EU, to present their products and to meet potential buyers, she said.

On cooperation in the military field, the ambassador said it has significantly increased over the last two years and will grow even further in 2018.

AMMAN — The number of banks in Jordan has remained unchanged in the past three years, standing at 25, 16 of which are local banks and nine foreign, the Sisterhood Is Global Institute (SIGI) said on Monday, citing the 2016 annual report of the Association of Banks in Jordan (ABJ).

The number of branches grew from 770 in 2014 to 786 in 2015, reaching 808 in 2016, according to a SIGI statement.

By the end of 2016, the total number of employees working in the banks stood at 20,573, 13,417 of whom were men, marking a 65.2 per cent increase, while 7,156 were women, marking a 3.96 per cent increase compared to 2015.

Between 2008 and 2017, the number of employees in banks increased by 29.6 per cent, up from 15,878 nine years ago. 

Meanwhile, the number of female workers over the same period rose by 35.8 per cent, SIGI noted.

As for academic qualifications, the ABJ report showed that 14,588 employees had a higher diploma or a bachelor’s degree, making a 70.9 per cent increase over nine years.

Those who hold a master’s degree constituted 6.4 per cent of the total employees, while those with a PhD degree amounted to 58, or 0.3 per cent of all employees.

According to the statement, 64.9 per cent of the employees were 25 to 39 years old, 24 per cent were 40 to 59 years old and 70 employees were over 60 years old, constituting 0.3 per cent of the overall number.

SIGI said the report showed that 62.3 per cent of the employees were married.

Amman topped the number of employees working in the banking sector with 17,317, while Tafileh registered the lowest number of employees in the sector with only 76, constituting 0.4 per cent.

Women representation in the ABJ board of directors stood at 20 per cent, with two women out of the 10 members.

AMMAN — Her Majesty Queen Rania chaired a meeting of the board of directors of the Queen Rania Foundation for Education and Development (QRF) on Monday to discuss the progress of the foundation’s applied research and programme development.

The meeting, which was held at the offices of QRF in Amman, also addressed the latest successes of the foundation’s massive open online course platform, Edraak, according to a statement from Her Majesty’s Office. 

As part of its broader research efforts, the QRF team presented the foundation’s achievements this year, beginning with the publication of its study titled “Economic Returns of Investing in Early Childhood Care and Education”. 

Throughout the year, QRF has launched several projects, including the introduction of gamified math-teaching methods for children in the ninth grade and evaluating their impact on student learning. QRF also presented a programme providing parents of children aged five and below with simple and practical tools to support their children’s holistic development and prepare them for school.

The board also hashed out the foundation’s plans for the upcoming year, all of which are supported by research and programmes in line with QRF’s mission to improve literacy, numeracy, and socio-emotional skills for children between the ages of three and 15. 

Her Majesty was also briefed on the latest developments of Edraak, which held its first regional conference in August 2017. The conference hosted more than 55 speakers from 12 counties, and was attended by more than 250 people. 

Members of Edraak updated the board on the progress of their partnership with Google.org, which in May 2017 provided QRF with a grant for an Arabic online learning platform catering to K-12 students across the region. On this front, Edraak is working simultaneously on technology and content development, piloting the platform with math for grades 1 to 12.

Established by Her Majesty in 2013, QRF aims to be a leading regional resource and incubator for new and innovative ideas and initiatives in education. The foundation’s work is focused on identifying gaps and opportunities for developing new education programmes, as well as influencing policy and creating transformational change on the ground.