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AMMAN — Going down the stairs to Fawaz Sahloul’s house, one would not imagine that it accommodates a seven-member family.

The mouldy apartment, located in the west Amman suburb of Wadi Seer, speaks of a life of despair that the family has been living since Sahloul was taken ill and could not continue working.

“Our house is in really bad shape. Water is leaking everywhere and we lack privacy,” said Sahloul’s wife, Um Mohammad.

The family, which includes young children still in school, is left with no provider.

“My husband has diabetes and a mental illness, and I do not have the courage to go out and work,” Um Mohammad told The Jordan Times.

But the family will now have a bright future to look forward to after HRH Princess Basma, president of the National Goodwill Campaign’s higher committee, paid a visit to their home Tuesday.

The campaign will renovate the apartment and provide the necessary furniture, while the family will receive assistance and medical care.

The princess also visited the house of Halima Sandoqa, a 50-year-old unemployed woman who is left to care for her seven children after her Egyptian husband went back to his country five years ago to be treated for kidney failure.

Under the goodwill campaign, the house, also located in Wadi Seer, will be rehabilitated.

In addition, some 100 families from the area received urgent assistance, such as basic food supplies, blankets and heaters.

During a meeting with members of the local community, Princess Basma listened to their needs and challenges.

She called for expanding the outreach of charity initiatives and institutionalising them.

Tuesday’s visit also included the east Amman neighbourhood of Hai Nazzal, where 100 families received much-needed winter assistance.

Jordan Engineers Association Deputy President Majed Tabaa said a technical team will be formed to identify the needs of the houses that the princess visited on Tuesday to carry out the necessary maintenance work.

Launched by the Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development, the National Goodwill Campaign has grown over the years to become synonymous with support for the poor and the marginalised.

AMMAN — Telecom companies, app developers, software and mobile firms, and stakeholders in the ICT sector will soon launch a strategy to increase Jordan’s presence in the app industry, estimated to account for $100 billion in trading this year.

The strategy, to be announced in February, will detail a series of activities that all stakeholders will work on to “unify fragmented efforts” so as to make the local app industry mature, Nour Khrais, chairman of the Jordan Gaming Task Force, told The Jordan Times.

Khrais made the remarks following a workshop on Tuesday that attracted representatives of telecoms, app development firms, software companies, mobile manufacturers and IT experts.

“All participants at today’s event agreed to jointly work on a project to develop an application that addresses the needs of Jordanians,” he said.

“The application might address some of the environmental or traffic problems Amman is facing. This will be the start of cooperation among all stakeholders to boost the industry and unify efforts to develop it,” Khrais added.

The Gaming Lab and Umniah, in cooperation with AppCircus, a platform for showcasing the latest innovations for mobile phone apps through online challenges and road shows, organised Tuesday’s event.

At a later stage, stakeholders will work together on creating a platform called “Apps 4 Amman”, where several apps related to tourist attractions, restaurants, traffic guides, cinemas, hospitals, entertainment facilities and other utilities, will be posted online.

“We all need to work together to create an ecosystem that boosts the app industry in Jordan. The potential for business is huge as this year alone trading in this industry is expected to reach $100 billion,” Carles Ferreiro, co-founder and CEO of dotopen, said.

“The size of the app industry is becoming closer to the size of the movie industry, and by unifying efforts… this industry can help create jobs,” Ferreiro said during the workshop.

dotopen is an open innovation company that facilitates the development of innovation ecosystems.

During the workshop, participants highlighted several challenges facing the industry.

Abdul Malek Al Jaber, the founder and CEO of MENA Apps and chairman and CEO of Middle East Payment Services, said offering proper incubation programmes and providing incentives to young developers, as well as following up on their work through mentorship, are fundamental to the growth of the local app industry.

Stressing the need for the constant development of telecom networks to boost the app industry, Umniah CEO Ihab Hinnawi said the rise in demand for apps requires telecom operators to invest more in their networks.

He said that the absence of collaboration among players in the industry represents a main obstacle towards moving forward.

One of the challenges facing the industry is the lack of clearly defined laws to govern it and create a proper ecosystem to help it flourish, Zain Jordan CEO Ahmad Hanandeh noted at the workshop.

Others highlighted the lack of trust among Jordanians in online payments as an obstacle hindering the app industry’s growth.

“Internet transactions and paying online for apps, for example, is an issue in Jordan. People do not trust online payments and this is relevant also to the entire Arab region,” Abed Shamlawi, CEO of the ICT Association of Jordan, said during the event.

AMMAN — A Jordanian activist has been listed among the top social entrepreneurs in the world in the under-30 category by Forbes magazine.

Kamel Asmar won the acclamation for his work through www.nakhweh.org, a web-based network of social volunteers in the Arab world.

Asmar was listed among 29 other revolutionary global social entrepreneurs, two of whom are also Arabs from Egypt and Bahrain.

To prepare the “30 Under 30” list of social entrepreneurs for 2014, Forbes staff collected and reviewed over 100 applications, after which the candidates were presented to a panel of judges who selected the winners, according to the magazine.

“Nakhweh” is Arabic for “chivalry or willingness to help people in need”. Nakhweh.org has been encouraging volunteerism in Jordan since 2009, connecting individuals through volunteering opportunities in the Kingdom.

The work of this NGO later expanded to reach most of the Arab countries.

For Asmar, the initiative was a combination of “a personal passion to give” and his technical background to see how they would “blend together”.

The main aim of Nakhweh.org is to spread awareness and the spirit of volunteerism among individuals in Jordan and the Arab world, he said in a telephone interview.

In 2013, Nakhweh launched “the first directory of social work in the Arab world”, making it the “first volunteerism and development network in the area”, according to a statement from the NGO.

This year, the organisation launched “Al Deewan”, a crowd sourcing and online volunteering project to expand its database of volunteers by including people from all over the Arab world.

Asmar is now planning on providing companies with programmes for employees to volunteer in activities all around the Kingdom and the Arab world.

“The initial start of Nakhweh was not so easy,” he told The Jordan Times.

Social media was not very popular or widespread in the Arab world in 2009, the social entrepreneur said, adding that the concept of being a web-based entrepreneur was rejected by the public at first.

“But after the social media revolution, people figured out its importance and it became part of their daily life. The company was able to stand on its own subsequently and started creating events.”

Volunteerism, according to Asmar, is more of a lifestyle than a career.

“Every person has something to give, so it’s always a two-way relationship,” he said, quoting one of his role models, Rabee Zureikat, the founder of the Zikra initiative, which seeks to bridge the gap between the Kingdom’s urban communities and the local marginalised communities by exchanging resources and skills.

Locally, Asmar is a recipient of the King Abdullah II Award for Youth Innovation and Achievements grant in 2011, according to the Nakhweh statement.

Internationally, he received an Ashoka Fellowship for social entrepreneurs in 2012.

“I’m a proud Jordanian citizen who’s representing his country in such a very important and credible list and magazine,” the statement quoted him as saying.

“The social entrepreneurship scene in Jordan is definitely impressive and I’ve been inspired by many of my fellow Jordanian change makers who became role models for the youth and for their fellow social entrepreneurs and activists globally.”

AMMAN — The Lower House on Tuesday continued deliberations over the draft 2014 state budget amid increasing criticism of the government’s performance in the economic sector.

During two sessions on Tuesday, MPs expressed their dissatisfaction with the bill, linking their support for the legislation with the government’s positive response to their demands and suggestions.

MP Abdul Hadi Majali (National Current Party list), head of the National Labour Front Bloc (20 MPs), expressed his bloc’s worries over what he described as “the unplanned” government approach in handling the economic situation in the country.

He criticised the government for not having a “clear vision” in its efforts to overcome the difficulties facing the Kingdom and the lack of “harmony” among its economic team.

Majali, a former House speaker, warned that the ongoing “silence” on the streets does not mean satisfaction, warning that citizens are suffering and that the government must look into their needs, particularly those residing in remote areas.

Deputy Samir Oweis (Irbid, 1st District), who spoke for the Democratic Gathering Bloc (15 MPs), presented the group’s vision for the national economy, highlighting the main areas to be considered by the government as means to overcome ongoing difficulties.

The bloc focused on the need to find better measures to combat tax evasion, particularly among professionals.

Meanwhile, some deputies who took the podium announced their support for the draft budget at the end of their speeches.

The second largest bloc in Parliament, Watan (Homeland), called for taking the impact of the huge refugee influx into consideration as a major factor when drafting the state budget.

In a speech delivered by Mahmoud Mheidat (Irbid, 9th District), the bloc warned of the continued fluctuation in oil prices and their impact on the national economy.

The Lower House started its deliberations over the bill on Monday, after receiving the recommendations of its Finance Committee.

The government submitted the draft budget to the Lower House in November 2013, with a 12.8 per cent expansion in spending and a deficit of around JD1.1 billion.

His Majesty King Abdullah, the Supreme Commander of the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF), visits the JAF’s Joint Special Operations Command on Tuesday. The Monarch, who was received by Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Gen. Mashal Al Zaben and other army officers, was briefed on the command’s training plans and its units’ readiness to carry out their duties. King Abdullah also visited a military exhibition where the JAF’s arms and equipment are on display

AMMAN — The US understands the challenges facing Jordan as it hosts hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees, and it will continue to support the Kingdom to overcome them, a US official said on Tuesday.

During a meeting with Planning Minister Ibrahim Saif in Amman, US Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees and Migration Anne C. Richard commended Jordan’s “active role” in hosting Syrian refugees, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

Saif briefed her on the Kingdom’s National Resilience Plan (NRP), which provides a strategic framework for Jordan’s response to the impact of the Syria crisis, with a focus on supporting host communities in the most affected areas of the Kingdom.

The NRP, which will be presented to 50 countries at the High-Level Pledging Conference for Syria in Kuwait, includes a $2.4 billion programme of priority interventions over the 2014-16 period across the eight major sectors of education, energy, health, housing, livelihoods and employment, municipal services, water and sanitation, and social protection.

It also lists the fiscal support required to compensate for the increased cost of subsidies and security support on the budget — $758 million and $965.3 million respectively.

Saif said the international community has a responsibility towards Jordan by providing direct support to the government to counter the effect of the Syrian refugee crisis on its economy, adding that around 576,000 refugees have so far registered with UNHCR in the Kingdom.

In remarks earlier this week, Richard said the Jordanian authorities and international relief agencies, mainly UNHCR, have an “impressive” plan on how to manage the Syrian refugee camps, starting from registration to the distribution of aid.

During a roundtable discussion with representatives of media outlets on Monday, Richard expressed her country’s appreciation of Jordan’s efforts to alleviate the human suffering of Syrian refugees despite its limited resources.

She said her stopover in Jordan before heading to Kuwait to participate in the High-Level Pledging Conference for Syria was meant to see the improvements achieved in dealing with Syrian refugees and meeting the needs of host communities.

During the meeting, attended by US Ambassador to Jordan Stewart E. Jones and US Special Adviser for Global Youth Issues Zeenat Rahman, Richard added that US Secretary of State John Kerry, who will head his country’s delegation to the conference, will announce humanitarian aid for Syria exceeding the $155 million allocated in the 2013 conference.

She noted that US humanitarian aid to Syria so far amounted to $1.3 billion.

In addition to the humanitarian aid, Richard cited US efforts to find a political solution to the Syrian crisis that can bring an end to the “alarming” and “large-scale” suffering of the Syrian people, citing Kerry’s efforts in this regard.

Jones also commended Jordan’s humanitarian assistance to the Syrian refugees.

“The US is very grateful [for what] Jordan has done for the refugees, and we are fully aware of its resulting burdens. We need to do more and we will do it.”

Rahman, who is also the State Department’s Representative for the “No Lost Generation” Initiative, said she met with young Syrians in the refugee camps and had a close look at their situation in exile.

The initiative aims to provide young people affected by the conflict in Syria with the chance to shape a more stable and secure future.

AMMAN – Jordan’s investment inflows rose by 19.5 per cent in 2013 “reflecting investors’ confidence in the Kingdom’s economy and business environment”, a senior government official said Monday.

Jordan Investment Board (JIB) acting Chief Executive Officer Awni Rushoud said that the volume of projects applied to benefit from the Investment Promotion Law reached JD1.92 billion (around $2.7 billion) last year compared to JD1.61 billion ($2.2 billion) in 2012.

“Investor confidence in Jordan is increasing as capital inflows are recovering strongly to pre-crisis levels,” Rushoud told The Jordan Times over the phone, referring to investment volumes the Kingdom used to attract before the global financial crisis of 2008.

He indicated foreign investments represented 59 per cent of the overall projects applied to benefit from incentives, reaching JD1.13 billion, while investment by Jordanians amounted to JD797 million.

The industrial sector attracted 58 per cent of the investments, or JD1.1 billion. However, the JIB figures showed that capital inflows into the sector went down by nearly 20 per cent last year from JD1.39 billion in 2012.

Recreational and entertainment facilities came second in terms of largest investment inflows with JD527 billion, recording a sharp increase as in 2012 the value of projects in the sector stood at only JD25 million.

Investments in hotels increased from JD54 million in 2012 to JD142 million last year, the JIB chief said.

Rushoud described the projects whose owners applied to benefit from the incentives last year as added-value projects as they are expected to create 22,000 job opportunities once implemented within three years.

He noted that the JIB was able to achieve 96 per cent of the investment target for 2013, which was put at JD2 billion.

He attributed the increasing volume of investments to the fact that Jordan remained an “oasis of stability in a troubled region”.

He also highlighted the role of investment-related legislation and the business environment in the Kingdom in attracting investors.

Regarding 2014 outlook, Rushoud said that the new investment law, currently at the Lower House, will contribute to further inflow of investments, adding that JIB is also working on upgrading the investment map in Jordan.

The board will also launch promotional campaigns in several countries that would feature success stories of investors who picked the Kingdom as home for their projects. The official pointed out the JIB has formed a special committee to enhance the competitiveness ranking of Jordan in international business reports. This ranking has seen a downtrend over the past two years. 

AMMAN — Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh on Monday held separate talks with the US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Paris that focused on bilateral ties and the latest regional developments.

During his meeting with Kerry, Judeh voiced Jordan’s support for the US-brokered peace negotiations with the Palestinians and the Israelis. He reiterated that the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the pre-1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital is the ultimate goal of the peace talks, adding that the envisioned resolution must also be based on the Arab Peace Initiative.

Judeh stressed that all the other final status issues (Jerusalem, refugees, borders, water and security) lie at the heart of the Kingdom’s higher interests, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The two officials reviewed preparations for the projected Geneva II peace conference on Syria, slated for January 22. Judeh renewed Jordan’s “unaltered” position on the Syrian crisis that calls for a comprehensive political solution that can safeguard the territorial unity of Syria and an end to the suffering of its people.

They also discussed ways to address the burdens on Jordan resulting from hosting more than 600,000 Syrian refugees and the need for the international community to shoulder its responsibilities towards Jordan to help it carry on with its humanitarian mission to aid the refugees.

During his meeting with Lavrov, Judeh called for enhancing the Jordanian-Russian relations in all fields, stressing the need to maintain consultations and coordination between the two sides over all issues of mutual concern.

Lavrov said the election of Jordan to the UN Security Council non-permanent seat reflected the fact that the world holds the Kingdom and His Majesty King Abdullah in high esteem.

Highlighting the pivotal role of Russia in the Mideast peace process, whether independently or through its role in the International Quartet, Judeh reiterated the call for establishing an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

On Syria, Judeh and Lavrov stressed the need to implement the resolutions of the Geneva I conference, especially those concerning the establishment of a transitional government in Syria, as well as the importance of holding Geneva II peace talks.

Judeh also briefed Russia’s top diplomat on the humanitarian consequences of the Syrian crisis on Jordan.