EU’s JADE project comes to a close

AMMAN — The Jordanian Action for the Development of Enterprises (JADE) officially closed Thursday during a virtual closing ceremony that brought together a number of key experts, beneficiaries, and stakeholders from the innovation and private-sector development ecosystem in Jordan.

The four-year project was co-funded by the European Union in Jordan, and implemented by B&S Europe, Leaders International (LI), the Jordan University for Science and Technology (JUST), and the Belgium-Italian Chamber of Commerce, according to a LI statement.

During the ceremony, implementing partners presented the project's impact on the chemicals and cosmetics, plastic and rubber, engineering “home appliances”, tourism, and innovation sectors through several success stories and achievements.

In the last four years, JADE has promoted and fostered the concepts of entrepreneurship, innovation and digital transformation in the Jordanian economy.

It supported the growth of six business associations, five business incubators and accelerators, and a total of 231 business startups and 80 small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the country, the statement said.

Ambassador of the delegation of the European Union to Jordan Maria Hadjitheodosiou highlighted the project's sustainability and social inclusion aspects.

"JADE has not only built the ecosystem's capacity and facilitated its access to new markets, but it has also made sure that entrepreneurs inside and outside of the capital Amman are given an equal opportunity to grow their skills and boost their enterprises. It has maintained sustainable impact, by supporting small and medium enterprises, which comprise the majority of the Jordanian private-sector today; as well as the organisations and associations that exist to support them," Hadjitheodosiou said.

Emad Shana’h, the head of the International Cooperation Directorate at Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, hailed the efforts of the EU and its partners.

"The Jordanian economy values such economic avenues of cooperation with the EU, and look forward to reaping the benefits of four years of hard work and dedication to upgrade its industries and its endeavours to penetrate new international markets in Europe and the region," Shana’h said.

At the technical level, Hamzeh Al Shamaileh, Country Director at Leaders International, the project implementing firm, said: "We have seen great results coming out of the organisations and enterprises that we worked with in terms of boosted productivity, improved quality of service, tech-enabled capabilities, adherence to EU regulations, and increased exports."

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, JADE focused on online technical assistance and knowledge sharing to assist Jordanian enterprises in responding and adapting to the unprecedented economic crisis. By enabling a resilient economy, JADE has aimed to develop and maintain the sustainability, innovation and drive of the Jordanian enterprise, according to the statement.