JD16.07m worth deals signed to alleviate poverty, unemployment

AMMAN — The Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation and the Ministry of Labour on Tuesday signed two cooperation agreements worth JD16.07 million aimed at addressing areas with high levels of poverty and unemployment.

Planning and International Cooperation Minister Imad Fakhoury and Labour Minister Nidal Katamine signed a deal worth JD14.07 million to implement the third phase of productive branches projects in remote areas, through the Development and Employment Fund (DEF), during 2016-2018.

Signing the agreements came in response to local demands to implement income-generating investment projects, articulated during field visits by ministerial teams to areas around Jordan in 2015, Fakhoury highlighted.

"Under the first agreement, the Ministry of Planning and International Cooperation would finance the establishment of 20 productive branches by building hangars with areas of 600 to 4,000 square metres for factories investing inside or outside industrial zones in areas with high unemployment rates," he noted.

The minister added that the agreement is expected to generate 5,000 jobs for local residents of the targeted areas.

The second agreement, which Katamine signed in his capacity as chairman of the board of directors of the DEF, stipulates allocating JD2 million from the Planning Ministry's programme of enhancing social and economic productivity to help unemployed young people establish and develop their projects in their areas, Fakhoury added.

"The agreement — which targets young people in Balqa, Madaba, Karak and Jerash governorates — entails presenting soft loans of up to JD15,000 with an interest rate of 3 per cent and a grace period of 12 months," he said.

The minister added that projects that prove successful within the first three years would receive a 30 per cent discount on the loan value.

He referred to a previous similar agreement with the fund which targeted young people in Maan, Tafileh, Mafraq and Ajloun governorates, noting that both sides will study this year financing youth projects in the remaining governorates of Amman, Zarqa, Irbid and Aqaba.

"The support is part of the ministry's assistance to the fund in the past few years, which amounted to JD15.5 million," Fakhoury noted.

The sum was distributed as JD5 million for entrepreneurial projects, JD6 million for poverty pockets, JD1 million for lending charity organisations, JD1.5 million for relending to targeted categories in Maan and JD2 million for relending to unemployed young adults in Ajloun, Mafraq andTafileh governorates as well as the desert and Jordan Valley areas, he explained.

For his part, Katamine said the DEF has established 16 productive branches in the badia and Jordan Valley regions, which targeted employing young people, 95 per cent of whom are females, noting there will be 30 new branches by 2018.

"The DEF in 2015 spent around JD31 million on recruitment," the labour minister said, adding that the fund is one of the most "effective" tools in creating jobs and helping entrepreneurs start their businesses.