Cabinet approves incentives for factories to establish branches in remote areas

AMMAN — The Council of Ministers on Tuesday approved several incentives to establish branches of major factories in underprivileged areas through providing logistic and financial advantages to investors to employ local residents in these branches.

Labour Minister Ali Ghezawi said that the government has adopted the policy of boosting recruitment in the private sector rather than the public to address poverty and unemployment, especially in remote areas, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. This requires developing national policies focusing on investment, he added. 

Ghezawi said that the production branches initiative, executed by the ministry, aims at recruiting Jordanians in areas with high rates of poverty and unemployment, through attracting investments, and empowering these areas at the economic and social levels, with a special focus on women.

The incentives include facilitating the provision of land owned by the Treasury and municipalities to the Labour Ministry to be allocated to the factories’ branches, and offering Jordanians who work in these branches a 50 per cent bonus of the minimum wage for one year.

Jordanian workers will also receive JD25 transport allowance and JD25 as an allowance for social security subscription for one year, the minister added.

Aiming to increase the number of Jordanian workers in these factories, the government amended the ratio of local workers compared to foreigners, depending on the number of branches an investor establishes, especially in the garment and clothing sectors. 

The amendment stipulates raising the number of Jordanians over four years and supporting the establishment costs of any project based on the conditions and standards that are accredited in cooperation with the Jordan Industrial Estate Company.